Trust me; I wasn't trying to start a major uprising when I reported on a Stellantis official going on CNN saying that the automaker was removing chrome from its cars in the next wave of style enhancements.
Terming it the “Death of Chrome,” Ralph Gilles, Stellantis’s chief global designer, told the network that they planned to phase out badges and trim pieces covered in chrome and said they wanted to make their cars “less dangerous” by eliminating the use of hexavalent chromium.
I posted the article on our site at FinishingAndCoating.com and also on LinkedIn to share that bit of news with the industry since a great many of them work on automotive coating projects, and many more use hex chrome to fulfill orders from Tier I and II automotive suppliers who are asking them to coat the parts.
The response was immediate and was a tad more than what I was used to getting from posts. More than 80,000 people saw the post on LinkedIn because we had about 65 people post comments, and many more shared the piece.
The reaction was typical for a hot-button topic such as using hex chrome, which everyone seems to know is a carcinogen. Most suppliers have introduced tri chrome alternatives and are working to get finishers to move away from the hex chrome process and adopt the new tri chrome.
This leads to an interesting quandary for all those involved: if the automotive industry — and in this case, Stellantis — wants to proclaim they are all for the removal of hex chrome from all parts of a car, then why don't the automakers simply tell their own parts suppliers to not place hex chrome on the parts any longer. Of course, we aren't talking about trim and badges, are we? We are talking about extremely critical components such as nuts, bolts, and large pieces that hold the entire car together, and of which hex chrome is the best anti-corrosion protection known to man, and any manufacturer would be silly to mess with what works.
It is surprising that GM, Ford, Toyota, and any other automaker doesn't take this step; instead, Stellantis tells us they will make the cars safer by ridding the passenger compartments of products manufactured with hex chrome. By the way, having a product coated with hex chrome in a vehicle produces a 0% risk of harming anyone. The danger of hex chrome and any chemical like it is in the coating process, where fumes and mists can be harmful, and certainly, the liquid if you drank it or became reckless with it.
It doesn't jive that a manufacturer would proclaim the Death of Chrome when talking about steering consoles and buttons but isn't ready to refuse to put it on the undercarriage parts or anywhere else where corrosion resistance is critical.
Finishers and coaters are ready to rid themselves of hex chrome, too. No one wants the headache that goes with it or the stigma that is attached to it, not least of all the finishers themselves.
They want only the manufacturing industry to make a decision so everyone is on the same page. Then, we can bury hex chrome once and for all.
Tim Pennington is Editor-in-Chief of Finishing and Coating, and has covered the industry since 2010. He has traveled extensively throughout North America visiting shops and production facilities, and meeting those who work in the industry. Tim began his career in the newspaper industry, then wound itself between the sports field with the PGA Tour and marketing and communications firms, and finally back into the publishing world in the finishing and coating sector. If you want to reach Tim, just go 
