For three decades, Bluechem Group has been offering a win-win business concept to its discerning customers – both in the domestic market in Germany and abroad – in the field of automotive cleaning and servicing. Spread over 105 countries around the world, Bluechem Group works with OE manufacturers and offers them products as per their requirements. Sarada Vishnubhatla talks to Luis Fernandez, International Sales Director at Bluechem Group to get a bird’s-eye view of their product offering
Bluechem Group works by a simple yet effective philosophy. It bats for a sustainable and long-lasting relationship wherever it sets foot around the world by bringing user-friendly yet innovative chemical tools to advance the local automotive industry. Their aim is to help the workshop professionals with simple applications that can be applied to everyday automotive servicing and solving average customers’ problems. As part of their long-term strategy, Bluechem Group has tied up with Vista Auto Care by Resil Chemicals Private Limited in India to tailor-make their business concept to suit the Indian customer.
Elaborates Luis Fernandez, International Sales Director, Bluechem Group: “We understand that the Indian market is quite diversified. It has not only the passenger vehicle market but also two and three-wheeler vehicles besides passenger taxi transportation fleet. Therefore we have developed a series of products to cater to these segments as well. All these markets are different. Hence, we offer to the Indian market what we would not normally offer in the European market based on the individual market requirements.”
Partnering with Vista Auto Care
Partnering with Vista Auto Care has enabled Bluechem Group to offer its world-renowned cleaning, servicing and maintenance products in re-sized packages. Fernandez explains: “India is a cost-sensitive market. Bluechem Group aims to offer its innovative technology to every consumer here, not just the high-end segment. But if we did our own packaging and if we transported everything on our own, our prices would be out of reach for the average consumer. Hence, we are partnering with Vista Auto Care. We ship them the chemicals and the technology and Vista carefully does all of the packaging options, bottling, labelling and shrink wrap packaging using the local businesses. This partnership allows us to offer our product in different sizes along with a unique and affordable price perspective.”
Revolutionary Products
Bluechem Group is proud of their new revolutionary product launches in India that are innovative and environment-friendly – right from the engine cleaners and fuel system cleaners to combustion chamber cleaners, and the like.
Having won the German Innovation Award in 2018 for this product, Bluechem Group has launched their decarbonizer, Carbon X Combustion Chamber Cleaner two-component kit, for the Indian market. “As a multi-use product, the decarbonizer can treat the EGR and turbo systems besides the air intake manifold too. It eliminates multiple man-hours spent on dismantling parts to cleanse the system. Carbon deposits, particularly in the piston rings or in the valve system, lead to blocks and compression loss which in turn impact the power resulting in emissions shooting up. Our new Carbon X Combustion Chamber K1 + K2 product does the job with ease. It is especially handy because of the new composites that are being used in the newer engines. The earlier method was to give a heat treatment to the cast piece to dissolve the contamination away. In the newer engines, these points are difficult to access in the engine,” Fernandez informs.
The two components of the Carbon X are – one, active foam and the other, a lubricant and the solvent. Component K1 is sprayed on the inside of the affected area. It is a rapidly expanding foam and within 15 to 20 minutes eats away the carbon deposits. Component K2 liquefies the foam so the resultant sludge can be extracted out. It discourages any clumps or formations that may get trapped and oil starvation, which is a common problem. “K1 + K2 combo is accompanied by an extractor tool which works under a vacuum principle. It is attached to the air compressor which sucks out everything safely. The other advantage of this product is that this lubricates the combustion chamber because K1 dries out the insides wherever it is sprayed and the engine cannot be safely started anymore. Right there, K2 lubricates and prepares the engine to be restarted safely,” Fernandez explains.
“This is why Carbon X is a unique and innovative product which saves our customers many hours of labour to dismantle and clean the engine parts manually. And naturally, it can be used in all engine types,” he adds. Carbon X has been proven to be safe for sensitive seals, gaskets and O-rings since it has a solvent base. Hence, it can be applied on any vehicle with any kilometre range. As is with all their products, Carbon X has TUV certification meeting the safety requirements of the German Equipment and Product Safety Act.
As an oxygen sensor cleaner and a catalytic converter cleaner, Oxicat removes soot and carbon deposits from the exhaust tract, especially in the catalyst, turbocharger and the EGR valve. It provides protection against renewed contamination and optimizes engine performance. “Most of the time, the exhaust system of the vehicle is ignored but it is a crucial component where the oxygen sensor transmits information to the computer of the vehicle on how much fuel and air needs to be mixed to create an optimal combustion. If the oxygen sensor is dirty, the computer cannot process the information correctly, which means it starts to deposit additional fuel. So, the fuel consumption goes up and so will emissions,” Fernandez says.
“The catalytic converter can be blocked if there are too many short distance driving episodes, which is typical for India as a country, where the emissions cannot be burned properly, which creates a backup. This leads to pressure in the engine impacting the combustion process leading to a decrease in the power,” he adds. Oxicat, when inserted into the fuel tank, uses the fuel system as a catalyst without impacting the system itself. The chemical in vapour form cleans the exhaust system even as one is driving. “Normally we recommend our customers to fill the tank when applying the product. When the tank is empty, the cleansing process is complete,” Fernandez states.
Bluechem Group targets not only the professional customers but the average consumer too. As part of their long-term strategy, the group – in partnership with Vista – engages directly with the automotive parts’ manufacturers and the suppliers. Says Fernandez: “We want to use their existing sales network to branch out products. And we have a particular training procedure, demo kits, and what we call a target path – which is an easy path to follow – to be able to show the average consumer why the products are necessary, how they function, and the exceptional quality that we offer. This helps us to educate the customer as to what to look for when using our products.” At the end of the day, Bluechem Group is all about building an ecosystem that is cost-effective while being highly performance-oriented.