Advanced TPU film has various excellent characteristics, making it widely used across different fields. Firstly, it exhibits outstanding elasticity and flexibility, enduring deformations without damage. Secondly, TPU film is wear-resistant, maintaining its appearance and performance over periods. Additionally, it boasts high strength and tear resistance, offering reliable protection against tearing and puncturing for products. Apart from its high temperature resistance and chemical stability, advanced TPU film is often manufactured using environmentally friendly materials, meeting sustainability requirements. Moreover, TPU film is easily molded, suitable for manufacturing products of complex shapes. Lastly, it exhibits good adhesion, firmly bonding with different materials.
Due to these characteristics, TPU film is widely used in Paint Protection Film (PPF) for automotive industry. Like how mobile phones can be protected with films, cars can also benefit from film protection, enhancing their resale value. PPF fully utilizes the strong wear resistance and long lifespan of TPU film, ensuring that the vehicle's paint is unaffected by environmental factors and even capable of self-repairing scratches and abrasions. However, despite of these advantages, the fact that PPF can only be transparent may lead many enthusiasts to choose Wrap Film or painting for car customization.
Wrap Films are currently an important method for customization. Compared to painting, the advantage of Wrap Films lies in their simplicity, as they do not permanently alter the vehicle's surface. They also offer certain level of protection to the body and help retain the Automotive OEM Coatings, thereby preserving the vehicle's value. These are attractive features for young car enthusiasts. However, Wrap Films mainly use PVC or PET materials, offering limited protection compared to PPF, with a lifespan usually around three years.
As technology matures, manufacturers are now able to integrate car protection and customization into a single product, leading to the emergence of TPU colored PPF. TPU colored PPFs compress various materials, overlaying color layer and coating on TPU film, effectively combining the advantages of Wrap Film and PPF.
As a next-generation product, TPU colored PPFs have numerous advantages, however, they also face price issue. With costs exceeding tens of thousands CNY, they present a significant gap compared to Wrap Films priced in the thousands CNY. Additionally, automotive-related products usually require about three years for validation. Thus, the actual effectiveness of TPU colored PPF remains to be seen. Nevertheless, there is reason to believe that once the product matures, TPU film will undoubtedly continue to shine in the automotive industry.
