“Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants, so long as it is black.” Those were the words of Henry Ford when the Ford Model T hit the production lines and it is believed he told them to dealers of the marque. Times have changed drastically since then though – design and color, or appearance in general, are way more important now as they are one of the main selling points of a new car.
In fact, black is not even the most popular new car color anymore. Axalta’s 68th annual Global Automotive Color Popularity Report reveals the world’s three most popular colors and, to the surprise of no one, white is the most frequently purchased automotive color globally for 10 consecutive years.
Axalta, one of the world’s leading suppliers of liquid and powder coatings, gathers data from countries where cars are produced and creates a list of the most popular new car colors globally. The information is then supplied to manufacturers to enable them “to observe trends and patterns across the globe and in particular markets.”
This year’s survey shows that 38 percent of the manufactured vehicles are painted in white, followed by 19 percent black cars, and 15 percent gray cars. Surprisingly, the demand for silver cars continues to decline while black cars remain popular mainly in the luxury segment. In total, the top four most popular colors represent an 81-percent market share globally.
“The consumer purchasing trends reflected in the report drive our development of innovative colors for the future,” Nancy Lockhart, global product manager of color at Axalta, commented. “We’re pleased to share this data with our customers and bring together our industry-leading color technology, deep market experience, and trend data to work with our customers to bring dynamic colors to life.”
Axalta’s first annual report was released in 1953.