In 1957 a Chevrolet Bel Air could be finished in a lovely combination of Canyon Coral (the fifth most popular color at the time) and India Ivory. Brightly painted cars spelled out the American dream to people around the world who frequently saw them displayed across the pages of National Geographic and other magazines.
The modern color wheel has far less flair: The most common shades on new cars around the world are white (38%), black (19%) and grey (15%). That’s according to the Global Automotive 2020 Color Popularity Report from Axalta Coating Systems, a company that specializes in industrial applications of coating in myriad sectors, including automotive. This year gray was up two percentage points globally, putting it at a 10-year high. In Asia, white paint goes on an astonishing 48% of cars.
The North American results followed suit: 30% white, 19% black, 19% gray and 10% silver. Put the last two together and “shades of gray” is as big a winner as white.
Midnight Plum and Passion Berry Are Out
A Honda Fit in eggplant purple (officially, “Midnight Plum”) was available for a few years until 2017. That’s because it was a “hero” color meant to be vibrant and attention getting, likely to “sell in lower numbers” and only be available for a few years, said Chris Naughton, a Honda spokesman. The Fit itself was discontinued for the 2020 model year.
A global color popularity survey conducted in 2019 by PPG Industries, another global supplier of paints and coatings, found that blue and red together were on only 8% of vehicles sold. Only 1% of buyers chose green.
Brighter paints of the 1950s were “a sign of the times,” according to Nancy Lockhart, global product manager for color at Axalta. Lockhart said that as recently as 1997 green was the most popular color in North America, but the following year white took over and stayed on top (with a brief interruption by silver) as green plummeted.
Acrylic lacquers used back in the day were “highly pigmented, allowing for rich colors,” but didn’t wear well, according to a recent story in Slate. That doesn’t explain the current drabness, however. Today’s sophisticated paint technology can produce “any color you want,” said Lockhart. But as eggplant’s fate makes clear, people tend to go with a limited palette.
A survey by automotive research website iSeeCars.com offers a reason why. In the resale market, cars painted beige, gold, silver, black, brown and gray result in an above-average percentage of deals, while teal, red, purple and—especially—orange are in comparatively negative numbers.
“Consumers looking for a deal on any type of orange vehicle might have a difficult time finding one,” said Phong Ly, the website’s CEO and co-founder.
Karl Brauer, executive analyst at iSeeCars, laments the safe choices his fellow motorists are making: “I joke that I’ll never order a silver car, because I wouldn’t want to be responsible for creating another one.”
Shifting Back to Individuality
Brauer offers a ray of hope, however. “I think we’re shifting back to a bit more individuality and diversity,” he said. “Color is becoming more of a focus point. For me, if a car is offered in black, white and seven shades of silver, I’m not interested.”
But he isn’t alone. “Other people are starting to tire of the dominance of those colors,” Brauer said, who prefers blue.
There also is a re-emergence of two-tone schemes—specifically cars and SUVs with white or black roofs that contrast with the body color, said Lockhart. “Spraying the roof black makes some cars look sleeker, and it brings them down to road a bit. It helps with styling.”
People also want to blend colors and harmonize them with different shades on the inside. Car interiors 10 years ago were mostly gray and black, but now there are warmer tones, including dark browns. These are “colors inspired by nature,” said Lockhart.
Black interiors are passé, said Brauer. “If I’m buying an entry-level car like a Hyundai Accent [compact sedan], I’d get a black interior like everyone else,” he said. “But when I’m going premium I want something more creative.” Brauer’s Dodge Challenger SRT Demon has a bright red interior.
Some people are willing to pay—quite a bit—for premium paint colors. A recently road-tested 2021 Aston Martin DBX (the automaker’s first SUV) was a lovely shade of Buckinghamshire Green with a contrasting Sahara Tan interior. The paint appears on the options list as “Q Special,” with a $6,100 price premium. There’s actually a lot going on to arrive at that price, paint experts say.
It can be very expensive to develop special colors that will not be much in demand, especially if the pigments include sparkle accents or hue-shifting effects that look different in certain light, according to John Thomas, manager of color styling at PPG.
Auto factories tend to paint popular-color cars in large batches (called “block painting”) because the equipment needs to be cleaned for each color change. Bespoke paint jobs require a complete set up for a single car. Companies take these steps because some consumers really want a unique color.
Green is slowly ascendant (along with blue) as consumers voice support for what’s called nature-mimicking biophilic design, said Krista Laird, business development leader for PPG. “We’re seeing it in luxury hotels and workspaces,” Laird said. “People want more natural colors that encourage calm and reflective feelings, and there’s a huge move to bring more greenery back into our lives.”
Green and blue are resurging because of “the latest home, fashion and product trends,” according to Axalta.
“Blue, the color of the ocean, the sky and a deepening twilight, is key to the calming and soothing experience that The Lincoln Motor Company aims to evoke in its vehicles,” the automaker said last year. Lincoln was emphasizing calmness and sanctuary even before the Covid-19 pandemic caused an increase in stress and anxiety around the globe.
The popularity of white, black and gray continues, but with shifts in tone. Misty Yeomans, color styling manager at PPG, points to whites that are silver-influenced and milky, warm ivories as well as nuanced soft green-grays.
Henry Ford said his Model T customers could have any color they wanted, as long as it was black. That approach didn’t deter people from buying the car, which with a $265 price in 1924 ($4,100 in today’s dollars) put America on wheels. They were lucky to get any kind of paint. In the early years of motoring, it was a complicated, drawn-out process. And it wasn’t until the 1920s that General Motors and Dupont devised processes to both improve drying times and enable a broad range of colors.
Today, a significant percent of the population worries that if they insist on an unusual color—even one they really like—they’ll pay for it at resale time. Maybe they order white, black or silver because everyone else does, and they think those colors command a premium. But anyone selling an eggplant Honda Fit at least knows fans of that color won’t have many online choices. White cars are a dime a dozen.