White is, by far, the most popular car color around the world with 38% of all new vehicles finished in some shade of white, while 81% of all vehicles are colored in white, black, silver, or gray. Walk around any Audi dealership lot, and this fact will quickly become apparent, but the German luxury brand likes to deviate from offering boring colors every once in a while. In fact, the company has some incredible shades as part of its Audi Exclusive custom paint option.

For those who don't know about the program, Audi Exclusive lets customers choose from a vast spectrum of colors that aren't available on the standard configurator. With three new RS models landing in the United States, we are starting to see an influx of these Audi Exclusive Colors posted on social media. CarBuzz spoke with Audi representatives to ask how the deliveries of these exclusive cars are going, and the answer was more complicated than we anticipated.

Audi ended 2020 selling 186,620 units in the US, but the company hasn't kept track of how many were sold with an exclusive color. An Audi representative told CarBuzz that it is a "small number, relatively speaking," meaning these cars are extremely rare. You might think the low volume would make it easier to order one of these cars, but the opposite is true. "Audi Exclusive ordering has closed for the year," a spokesperson told us.

This means customers will have to wait for 2022 order books to open. So if you had any hopes of matching the British Racing Green 2021 Audi RS6 Avant pictured below or the Vegas Yellow 2021 Audi RS7 picture above, you have to wait a while.

You could choose from one of the eight standard color options, but with the exception of Navarra Blue and Tango Red, most are pretty muted. The RS6 comes in a lovely shade of Nogaro Blue on the Tribute Edition, but those are limited to 25 units and are already sold out. The 2021 Audi RS Q8 SUV surprisingly boasts the best color palette of the new RS models, which shades like Dragon Orange and Galaxy Blue. Audi also debuted the RS Q8 in a wild Java Green color, but that is an exclusive option in the US.

While Audi has sold out of exclusive color slots for 2021 models, if someone wants to order one on a 2022 vehicle, CarBuzz did obtain some interesting tidbits about the pricing model. "Regular colors" tack on $3,900 for a smaller car, while the large SUVs cost $4,800 for an exclusive exterior color. Matte colors on the RS and R8 cars are the priciest options at $6,800.

In terms of color options, Audi boasts a wide portfolio of 54 pre-approved paints, but paint-to-sample is "available upon feasibility/approval," according to a spokesperson. Theoretically, the sky is the limit for creative customers. Do you have a special t-shirt that brings you good luck? Audi could do its best to match it on a car. Our spokesperson warned that these orders take longer to process and confirmed most are optioned on RS models or collector vehicles. Non-RS models, including the e-tron and e-tron Sportback, can still be painted in an exclusive color.

In addition to the multitude of exterior paint options, Audi Exclusive also offers various custom interior choices. There are eight exclusive leather colors, 11 stitching thread colors, five exclusive wood inlays, and six painted interior inlays for the A4 and A5 model ranges to match the exterior paint color. None of the Audi Exclusive options are cheap, but they help personalize the car and make it stand out amongst the mundane lineup of standard colors.

When ordering an enthusiast model like an RS car, we suggest opting for an exclusive paint color, as it will likely improve the resale value and draw more glances at local car events. It will be a long wait before 2022 models begin arriving at US dealerships, so get those Audi Exclusive orders ready.