If you need to disappear, drive a white Ford F-150. The ubiquitous truck is the best-selling vehicle in America year after year, and white is, once again, the best-selling color. If you want to be a little daring, but stay in the most popular shades, there’s always gray.
Axalta, a leading supplier of liquid and powder coatings (read: paint) to the automotive industry, has released its 2020 Global Automotive Color Popularity Report. It contains few surprises even though the top colors are unchanged. White paint covers 38 percent of new cars sold globally, and 30 percent of cars sold in North America. Black makes up 19 percent of new sales on this continent, followed by gray (another 19 percent) and silver, 10 percent. Blue is the only non-neutral shade to show double figures. It comes in at 10 percent of the market.
Does the color of your car truly matter? Yes. Color plays a role in the residual value of your car.
Gray grows in popularity
Gray’s move to overtake silver is a bit of a surprise. The report speculates that gray “is viewed as more modern and luxurious.”
Though the neutral colors make up the bulk of the market, Nancy Lockhart, global product manager of color at Axalta, said “The consumer purchasing trends reflected in the report drive our development of innovative colors for the future.”
Though consumers are generally not adventurous with the colors of their cars, Axalta says, trends from the fashion and home furnishings industries do influence the automotive market a bit. Emerging trends include soft greens, including green-blue and green-yellow shades. The data also show a slight uptick in fine flake effects, which can provide hints of color shining through the traditional shades. Automakers also sold more two-tone cars, such as those with black or white roofs over another color on the lower panels, than in previous years.
