AN ALL-IN-ONE SOLUTION FOR EVERY MARKET

Collaboration at the heart of the process

When Sika’s business and R&D teams first set out to develop a better seam sealing solution, they started by asking straightforward questions: “Can we make repair jobs and restoring to original condition faster and easier? And can we reduce complexity for our customers?” The answers weren’t simple – they required extensive collaboration across borders, stakeholders and disciplines.

Automotive Aftermarket experts in Italy, France, Germany, and Switzerland worked directly with car body shop professionals, observing their daily needs, documenting specific OEM requirements, and gathering direct feedback from professionals. Every feedback loop – often adding new specifications or bead application possibilities – helped shape a product that fit the requirements of distinct markets.

As new prototypes left the labs, Sika’s Aftermarket experts in each country contributed to new improvements based on the customer acceptance tests – upgrading the flowing behavior for smoother surfaces, developing new bead shapes, and enhancing wet-on-wet over-paintability.

Adapting in real time to customer challenges

For example: In France, one workshop had relied on painstaking manual procedures to simulate difficult beads for different car models. The methods were far from ideal, involving hand ejection of beads onto tape the day before application to the vehicle. With Sikaflex®-529 Evolution, the same operators can now apply the bead in a single smooth step – creating the right structure immediately and overpainting the bead or structure the same day. A task that once required awkward work arounds now happens with the seamless precision of one gun and one cartridge for the replication of the most commonly used OEM seam sealings.

The solution: What Sikaflex®-529 Evolution delivers

Driven by customer input, Sikaflex®-529 Evolution is designed to make life easier for workshop professionals by addressing their real pain points:

• Fast and flexible seam sealing: The solution allows for easy restoration of the most common OEM seam structures. Technicians can use a single spray gun and specialized nozzles to replicate all common original structures.
• Time-saving versatility: One product, one tool – no need for multiple cartridges or equipment changeovers means faster job turnarounds and fewer mistakes. Whether it’s sealing, applying protective coatings, or reducing noise, Sika’s solution-oriented system makes every task simple and reliable. Designed for one-handed application, it ensures efficiency and delivers consistently satisfying results.
• Paintability and finish quality: The sealant can be immediately overpainted wet-on-wet, matching existing finishes with any common automotive paint and streamlining the repair process.
• User-friendly, and durable: As a silicone, PVC, isocyanate and solvent-free formulation, Sikaflex®-529 Evolution is safer to use, resistant to shrinkage, and highly abrasion resistant, offering lasting protection and neat application.
• Support and training: Sika provides on-site demonstrations, hands-on training, and setup guidance for wholesalers, distributors, and end users, tailored to local market needs.

Customer value: More than just a product

Feedback from workshops and distributors has confirmed the actual benefits experienced in daily operations:

• Restored vehicles consistently meet OEM specifications.
• Repair processes are simpler and more consistent.
• Local teams provide direct support and ensure that thehigh quality requirements of Sika are guaranteed.
• Workshops report time savings, fewer reworks, and an overall reduction in process complexity.

Moving forward

Following its tremendous success in Europe, Sikaflex®-529 Evolution is now gaining momentum across Asia and South America. This all-in-one solution is quickly becoming the go-to choice for car body repair professionals, delivering reliable performance for a wide range of sealing, protection, and noise-dampening tasks in every workshop.

This success stems from customer-centric development – listening, adapting, and collaborating at every step – and from a clear commitment to making the repair process simpler and more effective for those who do the work. The result is not just a technical advance, but a practical, real-world improvement for workshops everywhere that is truly moving the industry forward.