A revolutionary new paint developed by DaimlerChrysler and BASF Coatings promises to add yet more style and elegance to the Mercedes-Benz designo programme.

Designo allows car buyers to tailor a vehicle to their own personal tastes, in order to make every creation "a true one-off". Options typically include fine wood or stone trim, leather upholstery and striking exterior colours – all used to add sophistication and individualism to the chosen car.

Liquid Metal, the exciting new paint, has successfully integrated a special-effect pigment into a waterborne paint system. This ensures that, in addition to appealing to the eye, the paint is environmentally-friendly.

Liquid Metal innovatively stretches around metal parts "like a metal skin", which emphasises design lines and contours and achieves targeted light reflection.

Because the special-effect particles are thinner and flatter than the particles in standard metallic paints, the light also reflects more intensively and the gloss is infused with extra vitality.

Mercedes-Benz advises car buyers that a few carefully chosen ingredients can turn a car into an individual work of art. Liquid Metal will only add weight to this argument, allowing car owners to achieve a rare and truly novel exterior effect.