A fine line

Audi has long invested heavily in new, more efficient and more environmentally-friendly paint processes throughout its manufacturing centres. Most recently, the brand has developed a system known as overspray-free painting that makes it possible to apply two colours in the same painting process.

Audi is the first car manufacturer to adopt this environmentally friendly technique in series production and the new technique is being adopted for the first time for the ‘edition one’ limited-edition models of the A4 Sedan and A5 Coupé. These models will are being produced for release in Europe, and allows the customer to choose a roof in brilliant black.

Up until now, applying two different colour finishes inevitably involved two painting processes with masking-off beforehand. The new overspray-free painting technology completely revolutionises what is usually a very time-consuming and material-intensive process, but without compromising the quality and finish of the paint. 

To achieve the result, a robot-controlled high-precision instrument measures the laser-brazed seam between the car’s roof and side panel frame. An applicator then applies a black paint specially developed for this method onto the body in strips, with millimetre precision but without spraying any mist. The precision with which the fine strips of paint are applied enables the contrasting paint finish to be created in a single process, saving time, money and also lessening environmental impact.
Audi has been intensively testing the new painting process since last year 2018, and since earlier this year it has been possible to create contrasting paint finishes with a black roof within the series production process. The new technology not only reduces the amount of paint used, it also does away with masking materials altogether. This allows Audi to offer greater scope for customer customisation and also save resources in the process.