The automotive wrap market is experiencing significant growth due to the popularity of customization and commercial projects.
SMC: Do the same strategies apply in the motorsports and racing category?
CP: In motorsports, it’s sort of a mix of two worlds. One of them is advertising. Motorsports is very expensive to run and is funded by sponsorships, so among the race cars around the world, it’s very rare if you can find one that doesn’t have sponsor logos on it. That’s how they’re funding their race program. Instead of painting it, they’re putting vinyl stickers on. There are also the elements of the design of the car, whether it’s got stripes or whatever design they want to do. This ties into the personalization of it, which we see on some street cars, where they do just a colour change without branding. The race car combines those two worlds: personalization and wanting to stand out, and a branding aspect for their sponsors.
SMC: How have advancements in printing technology and design software contributed to the success of the vehicle graphics sector?
CP: On the software side of things, you can now get renders of a vehicle pretty easily. This is helpful in terms of sizing logos, placement, and so forth. We can also do 3D renders. If you’re doing a full vehicle wrap, it’s a decent investment. Sometimes customers want to spend the extra money upfront to do a 3D render, so they can see all the angles of the car and how everything looks prior to starting. It’s been a huge selling point, as you can get your vision across to the customer, as opposed to just having a meeting about it. Then, on the printing side of things, it’s ink flexibility. Today, an ultraviolet (UV) printer wouldn’t really be able to do a car wrap, as it would crack. However, now we’re getting inks on latex or eco-solvent printers that have the flexibility. Therefore, when you’re stretching vinyl on a bumper, the ink can actually take the stretch. They also have durability, so they’re not fading in the sun after six months. You can get three, four, or five-plus years out of the wrap, depending on what you’re printing on.
SMC: Beyond commercial applications, how have clients been using vehicle graphics to express their personal style and values?
Race car livery combines the two worlds present in the vehicle wrap market: personalization and wanting to stand out, and branding and advertising through company sponsorships.
CP: We really find the style aspect to be on the high-end vehicles, such as Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and McLarens—the reason being the budget. A colour change wrap starts in the $4,500 range, which is not cheap, so it’s obviously very tough for the average car owner to see value. However, if you have an exotic car or a sports car, you’re able to change the colour and drive it for a couple of years without actually repainting the car. There’s a lot of value there, in the sense that you have your own unique colour that potentially no other car of the same make or model in the world has. Therefore, it’s a way to stand out, but it also retains the existing value of the vehicle. If you try to sell a car that’s been repainted, the car’s value has plummeted. No one’s sure if the car was in an accident or if there were any repairs. However, the vinyl wrap is something you can remove later and retain the value. Additionally, it does offer some protection for the paint. Traditionally, you’re going to have better-condition paint after 20,000 or 40,000 km (12,427.4 or 24,854.8 mi) on a vinyl wrap car than you would if there was nothing on the paint at all.
