Car colors can settle deep inside cultural and emotional framework – even if they weren’t alive then, many still associate a certain type of colorful van with the freedom-loving 1960s.
Still others will recall a brightly colored car driving through their childhood neighborhood or have visions of themselves speeding down the freeway in a red convertible.
Different decades also bring different car color trends and preferences. For cars made between 1971 and 1979 was blue by far the most popular Color both worldwide and in the US
Two decades later, 44% of cars produced in the 1990s were either red or black, while the modern era has brought greater interest in muted colors. In the mid-2000s, over 54% of all new cars rolling off the lot were either black, white, or gray.
This was the most popular car color of 2022
The trend towards cars without a color statement has continued into the 2010s and 2020s. BASF is a German chemical company that produces paints used by many major car companies recently reported 39% of all passenger cars produced in 2022 were painted white.
The report excludes commercial and fleet vehicles but is consistent across countries and continents – White was the most popular color for new cars in the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The next two most popular colors were black and gray with 18% and 16% respectively, but white was the clear leader due to what BASF calls its “classic, timeless beauty and high resale value”.
Collectively, lighter “chromatic” colors like blue, red, green, and yellow accounted for less than 20% of total car purchases. Among these, blue was the most popular choice at 8% globally.
At the same time, those who think outside the box tend to go all the way — colors like purple, orange, green, and yellow are more popular than in 2021 and 2020.
“White and black have increased this year, but the bigger story is the variety of chromatic colors,” says Mark Gutjahr, head of automotive color design, in a statement. “If you add that market share From yellow, orange, brown and green you can see more hues and variety reflecting a more nuanced palette and depth and breadth of color that has evolved over the last year or two.
Do you remember the color changing car from BMW?
New generations will no doubt have new color preferences, which at some point may not be a single color at all.
At last year’s CES, BMW (BMWJJ) unveiled paint technology that would allow a driver to press a button and change the color of the car. While the original prototype switched from black to white, BMW unveiled a new color palette at the 2023 conference – videos of the car model Show how it changes from red to yellow or purple to green.
CES is an opportunity for tech companies to showcase some of their most outlandish and futuristic ideas, so it’s extremely unlikely that this type of model will be available in stores at a reasonable price any time soon.
But the overall industry trend has undoubtedly shifted towards individualization As more manufacturers try to offer buyers who are willing to pay for it a wider range of features than ever before.
