SWITCHING the color of your car from one day to the next to suit your fancy might seem like the height of folly, but the aesthetics of the fashion world are slowly creeping into the automotive industry.

Stefan Herbert, the head of Smart operations at Mercedes Benz China, is convinced that drivers will increasingly want to change the look of their cars in the same way they change their wardrobes.

"In the winter you wear dark colors; in the summer you go for bright colors," he said. "It's the same with your car."

Smart has a history of trying to be different. When it first launched its snappy-looking little cars - small enough to fit two in a parking space - in Europe in 1998, people didn't know what to make of them.

From the beginning, Smart has allowed chameleon motorists to change the body panels of their Smart cars within an hour, from green to yellow or red. Motorists can also choose the color of the "tridion cell," the car's trademark outer safety shell - from black, white or silver.

"The concept was different cars for urban use, cars where you can make easy individualization," Herbert explained.

Later, Smart introduced car stickers. For example, the romantic motorist could deck out a car in hearts for Valentine's Day.

Now, the German carmaker wants to take things a stage beyond mere paint jobs by allowing its customers to personalize every part of their car.

This year Smart will launch its tailor-made service on Chinese mainland, aiming to give drivers control of colors from wheel rims to door mirror caps, "front aprons" to radiator grills, shift paddles to seat stitching.

These bespoke cars have rapidly gained popularity in Europe, and Herbert said he thinks the trend will also catch on in China. "My feeling is people more and more want to show they are different and show their personality outside of the car," he explained.

Smart entered Chinese mainland in 2009. Since then, as with other European car brands, its sales trajectory has been startling, In the first year Smart sold 1,800 cars in China; the second year sales doubled. Last year Smart sold almost 11,000 cars.

January sales surged 340 percent year-on-year, despite the Spring Festival holiday break, and Smart now has 68 dealerships across China.

Personalized cars

While it does not expect to sustain this level of growth - even if its China dealers could sell that many, the company wouldn't be able to roll them off assembly lines fast enough - Herbert said he is confident that Smart will continue to grow faster than the average market rate.

The company has already tested the waters for personalized cars in China. A series of special, limited editions has performed extremely well since going on sale in 2010. One version, an orange and black car called Night Orange, sold out in China within three days. Dealers said they could have sold double the number. A partnership with the online retailer 360buy.com last month led to the sale of 300 cars in 89 minutes.

For those who want a totally personalized car and are willing to pay for it, almost nothing is off limits, Herbert said.

"Tailor-made means the customer can choose everything freely," he said. "This means not only the body panel color, the tridion cell, the leather and the steering wheel. This is really high level individualization."

He said he expects to see patterns develop. "The trend for the Chinese market at the moment is specifically for bright colors," he said.

Smart's sticker price starts at 115,000 yuan (US$18,100) for its classic model and at 225,000 yuan for the sportier Brabus, which is aimed at what the company calls "mainly guys who want to show off to their friends."

Tailor-made cars will cost substantially more, although the company says they will still be "affordable."

The car in China is fast becoming indispensable.

"Car usage is on a daily basis," said Herbert. "It's something consumers are always in touch with. I might use my television once per week because I'm not always at home. But I use my car once a day. So I would say customers are willing to invest money in a car and be able to say, 'It's really mine.'"

The company has yet to announce its China prices for tailor-made cars, which will include import taxes.

One hurdle will be delivery times. Chinese customers usually want to drive a new car off the showroom floor the same day they buy it. A tailor-made car could take anywhere between six weeks and three months to produce, depending on modifications.

Once a customer has settled on all the designs and colors, the dealer must then submit the order to a factory in Germany. The car can't be mass-produced. Seats and steering wheels, for example, must be made by hand.

Will Chinese consumers be willing to wait? Herbert said he believes so. "I think it's a big achievement to own the only car of its kind in China or in the world, and I would imagine that waiting two or three months for it will be nothing," he said.

"You name it, and we'll make it happen."

Thomas Jefferson, Bespoke Sales And Communications Manager at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said he believes the best way to win the heart of a customer is to tailor a car to individual taste.

The 107-year-old British luxury carmaker revved up global sales last year to a record 3,538 units, with its Bespoke customized service a key driver. Up to 56 percent of Rolls-Royce Ghost models sold last year were tailor-made, and more than 80 percent of its Phantom models delivered to new customers had personal elements incorporated. Five years ago, the figure was only 50 percent.

Jefferson, who joined Rolls-Royce's customized division in 2009, said staff has doubled to about 50, reflecting the popularity of custom designs.

The automaker officially entered the China market in 2003 and momentum for customized designs started in 2009 after Rolls-Royce launched a limited-edition Phantom bespoke collection exclusively for the country.

The timing is perfect. The wealthier end of the world's largest auto market is hungry for luxury and exclusivity.

"I think more luxury shoppers will be looking for something unique," said Jefferson. "Having a golden-plated Spirit of Ecstasy figurine is great, but having a personalized one is even more desirable."

A special hood ornament and a partition wall for more privacy at the back seat are the most sought-after extras among Chinese Rolls-Royce car owners. But the request list can go on and on. "The only limit is your imagination," the program's slogan promises.

From individual paint colors, interior veneers and embroidery, to exquisite whole vehicle designs including champagne sets, humidors and picnic sets, Rolls-Royce's plant in Goodwood, England, is fulfilling motorists' fantasies of a dream car. Ninety percent of the customized items chosen are aesthetic; the rest are functional.

Individual requests have even included a Hermès-design roof interior, and initial-inlaid veneers made from a tree grown on a customer's home estate.

The most frequently encountered challenge, Jefferson said, is to mix an exterior color beyond Rolls-Royce's palette, which offers over 45,000 choices.

The task gets even more complicated if one asks for a two-tone customized exterior, which is now available in both Phantom and Ghost families.

"In general, Chinese customers prefer a dark color for the outside, such as consort red and diamond black, and when it comes to the wood veneer inside, walnut and piano black are the popular choices," Jefferson said. He described this growing group of customers as "young, bold and expressive" - people who are willing to pay more attention to craftsmanship and details than their counterparts in the West.

In the exclusive Phantom collection Rolls-Royce, introduced to celebrate the Year of the Dragon, the hand-painted twin dragon coach line needs to achieve perfect symmetry and balance. The four thread colors of the dragon embroidery on every leather headrest are carefully selected to complement the recommended leather color options. The marquetry, processed in a modern or traditional way according to the veneer choice, is laser-cut and hand-assembled into position.

Jefferson said a miniature mock-up of the Rolls-Royce's plant was featured at a Beijing exhibition last year to give a virtual tour of how customized orders are turned into reality.

It can take six months to sketch out the ideas and push them through manufacturing, which is a pretty long time in a market where car buyers normally demand immediate delivery, but Jefferson said he is confident that Chinese customers will consider it worth the wait.

"Many of them were hesitant at first, but there certainly are more possibilities about this market now after a lot of efforts made by Rolls-Royce to educate the customers," he said. Those who buy the cars receive personal invitations to visit the factory in Goodwood and see first hand how dreams come true.

Personalized cars are becoming quite the fad in China. Just ask Zhu Jiang, head of MINI Brand Management at BMW China and owner of his own tailored version of the car.

The 35-year-old business professional himself drives a MINI COOPER S, which originally was a standard version in dark green. It took him two months to give the car a facelift that included fiber reinforced plastics, a large black spoiler, four extra rally headlamps fitted to the upper part of the grill and two black strips on the engine hatch.

"The personalized package not only adds more power to my car but also makes it look cooler," said Zhu. "There is strong self-consciousness in each individual, and customized models let them make statements about themselves."

BMW Group introduced the MINI brand into China in 2003, but it was not until 2009 that individualization became a key marketing strategy.

MINI's tailor-made selections include tens of thousands of combinations between body panels, upholstery, sporting trims, door mirror caps and texture of the seat. Customers may also personalized valve cores on tires if they like.

John Cooper Works performance kit, a sub brand under MINI, is also available in China, where MINI also offers customers a series of limited editions.

"Individualization does not only mean the different body color or decoration, but also the driving performance from the brand DNA chains," Zhu explained.

The bespoke service is nothing new to car owners in Western markets, but in China, it's a relatively new concept. Zhu said market acceptance shows the trend is catching on and has a promising future. According to Zhu, some Chinese consumers like to have the British flag painted on the car roof to remind everyone that the MINI is part of British cultural heritage. Other popular options include racing car trims and various patterns for rear-view mirror caps.

Last year, 100 units of limited MINI TATTOO cars, featuring the British and royal crown patterns, sold out in only six weeks in China.

"We look at great potential for the personalized service," said Zhu. "Thirty years ago, there were only two colors for people's clothing in China. But with the economic reforms and opening up to the outside world, choice and variety have proliferated. People are more willing to show off their personal tastes in style."

He said high-end niche car brands like MINI can target affluent young people with tailor-made car décor - a plus in a highly competitive market and rapidly growing vehicle population. Last year, 15,518 MINIs were sold to Chinese customers, triple the sales of 2009.

However, tailoring cars to consumer preferences in China still lags the scope of the trend in Western markets, he said. Zhu blamed the situation to the slow start of the brand, compared to its 52-year history.

He also believed that the individualized vehicle modification will move up forward to a more sophisticated stage among Chinese consumers in the years to come. But such models may hit a snag in China if they become too outré.

Authorities, he said, might not turn a blind eye if exaggeration on the highways gets too out of hand.

Within several months, MINI will launch a limited Olympic edition especially designed for the Chinese market. Several new MINI TATTOO cars featuring famous streets in London are also in the pipeline this year.

The personalization business also grew quickly after displaying personalized options at showrooms while adding electronic devices to enable customers get direct view of the modification.

In addition, those previous optional selections including the inversed sport stripes, black head lamps and active rear spoiler have now become the standard features on its newly launched all-new MINI COUPE and ROADSTER.

"The trend for individualization is irreversible, and we will spare no efforts to promote the business," Zhu said.