It’s a color that’s instantly connected with the prancing horse. Though there aren’t any official figures, two out of every three Ferraris sold is reported to be bright red. But the origins of rosso corsa, or race red as the iconic Ferrari red is known, are closer home than you imagine-in a massive factory near Baroda, the city of colors. It was here that Raja Ravi Varma made his best-known paintings at the turn of the century, just as the Ferrari was born. The Heubach India factory in Ankleshwar, one of the world’s largest organic pigment complexes, turns out a spectrum of colors for automotive coatings. Their prized pigment is monolite red, which forms the base of the Ferrari red.

Some of the world’s most famous car makers-Ferrari, BMW, Chrysler, Volkswagen, General Motors and Kia Motors to name a few- use colors containing pigments that are manufactured by Heubach India, a subsidiary of the 600 year old German Heubach group. Heubach India exports about 90% of its products to the U.S., Europe and South East Asia.

“Our confidentiality agreements prevent us from naming the companies to which we supply pigments,” said Ravi Kapoor, managing director, Heubach India. “Almost all leading color makers who supply to auto giants use our pigments, but we are not privy to specific end-user information.”

It’s not just about red at this company’s 25-acre premises. The facility, which employs about 200 people, is as green as it can get in Gujarat. When Heubach India started its operations in 1994, not a single bird could be spotted in Ankleshwar, a hub for chemical and dye manufacturing and, as a result, one of the most polluted zones in India. But after Heubach began a program to plant trees on its campus, company officials say they have spotted over 37 species of birds. “When we talk of colors, birds have to be around too.” said a Heubach official.

For over a 100 years, rosso corsa has been the color of all Italian race cars on the international circuit. Every country has its own color-green for the United Kingdom, blue for France, white or silver for Germany. Though this is no longer strictly followed, teams such as Ferrari and Mercedes Benz carry on the tradition.

Founder Enzo Ferrari launched the first Ferrari in classic red with its logo of a prancing horse against a canary yellow background. Garrione Fulvio of Pininfarina, a firm that designs Ferrari models, says, “I have worked on five Ferrari models. They’re very specific that we design the car with the color red in mind.” Fulvio, who is currently at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, says Mercedes wants their cars designed for silver, Rolls Royce for black.

In the mid-eighties, a leading European pigment company patented the red used by Ferrari. After the patent expired two decades later, other players started making the pigment. Heubach India entered a few years ago. Being late doesn’t matter in this race.

“The color red is Ferrari brand’s personality,” says Piyush Sinha, who teaches marketing at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Sinha cites examples of Coke and Cadbury’s, two strong brands identified with red and blue, respectively. “Red gave Ferrari a distinct identity,” says Sinha.

What other companies can you think are associated with a certain color?

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Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com