The trend to add value to the automotive interior and exterior by chrome surfaces remains unbroken. In particular the matt-chrome segment is facing a rising demand for special surfaces. BIA has understood this tendency very early and offers various individual matt-chrome surfaces according to the designers' wishes. Numerous varieties such as "Galvanosilber 09"(Porsche), "Seidenmatt" (BMW), "3Q7" (Audi) or "Silver Shadow" (Mercedes) have been developed jointly with our customers and convince by their looks and quality.

There are many reasons why certain areas of a part shall remain free of chrome: dimensions, flexibility, plasticity needed for assembly processes or the wish to keep the part transparent for the NIGHTDESIGN. This can be achieved by using different plastic materials in combination with a specialized plating process. One component is platable; the other is not affected during the plating process. BIA has also started projects using 3 different components.

For a long period of time it was regarded as technically impossible to exempt complex symbols from the plating process during serial production. With the BIA patented NIGHTDESIGN, BIA is the first one to be able to offer complex enlightened symbols on plated parts. The plating process is interrupted at the stage where the plastic part is metalized. Then the metalized layer is taken of the part in the areas that shall remain chrome free with the aid of a laser-process. These areas of the part will not be affected by the remaining plating process that will be completed in the next stage. A special plastic material has been developed for this process ensuring that the symbols are translucent in order to let enough light through and dark enough to give sufficient contrast to the chrome surface when the symbols are not illuminated. This technique gives the automotive designers new opportunities to create high value looks, especially in the interior.