Audi has announced it's become the first car manufacturer to put partial matting into mass production. While Audi already allows customers to extensively customize their cars to their specification, the new innovative paint process will allow practically limitless personalization. Now, you can make your Audi truly unique. The first model to benefit from this innovative paint process will be a new special edition version of the Q2 crossover dubbed the Q2 #2. This is how it works.

A fine beam minimally roughens the top layer of paint to create a matt image. As a result, lettering, logos or photos can be displayed on the painted sheet metal "with pixel accuracy and abrasion resistance". Audi is the first car manufacturer to offer its customers this kind of individualization.

The process was developed by a team in the Technology Development division at Audi's Ingolstadt plant. Here's how it works. In the first step, an employee sticks a template made of thin plastic film onto the painted component such as the side blade of the Audi Q2 shown in photos. A specially developed system sprays the component under vacuum with a fine powder of crushed glass.

This removes a few thousandths of a millimeter from the top layer of clear lacquer and roughens it slightly at the same time. Thanks to the difference in surface structure, the motif stands out clearly after the template is removed. Each painted surface in the interior or exterior of the car can be individualized in this way, which Audi says gives the automaker an advantage over its competitors.

To showcase this new process, the Audi Q2 #2 special edition features a large pattern of crosses. It's been available to order in Germany since October, with other markets to follow. While the Q2 is the first series production car to use partial matting, it isn't the first Audi to benefit from the paint process - that would be the Audi R8 Coupe V10 plus "selection 24h" special edition that commemorated the success of the Audi R8 LMS racing car. The car featured matted "R8" lettering on the CFRP sideblades, but the partial matting was mostly done by hand at the time.