No more kitschy stickers and golden wraps then
Factory personalization options in the car industry have taken off in the past few years to both exterior and interior color, material and inserts.
In other words, customers can pretty much decide how their car looks like to the very last detail.
Audi, however, intends to step up the game with symbols etched into car paint and used the R8 to illustrate the new painting technique.
Under normal conditions, painting a modern car requires an anti-corrosion coating followed by three other layers: filler, base, and transparent lacquer, with the latter being there for protection purposes.
Audi came up with a special powder applied through spraying on the transparent lacquer coating, which "roughens the clear lacquer to a depth of just a few thousandths of a millimeter – less than a tenth of the thickness of a human hair."
The magic happens when light falls on the paint and reflects diffusely, therefore, a weather-resistant matte effect is obtained.