Silver still most preferred paint, but what's next?
Silver has been the most popular color on cars for the past six years, and the godfathers of paint at PPG predict it will remain the king for quite some time. This fact doesn't stop these connoisseurs of color from searching for the next contender of silver's throne. On Thursday, PPG showed off its official color palette of 110 concept colors at its studio in Troy, MI, and revealed it expects more natural colors like brown, green, blue and gold will become popular by the end of the decade, when colors automakers choose today actually go into production.
It's a tough gig trying to predict what hues will be hot three years out, so PPG tracks high fashion, architecture, and consumer goods to get a bead on future color trends. As always, new technology also continues to change the color wheel. Paint additives called effect pigments are increasingly being used to change the make-up of paint. For example, some may remember the optional "Mystichrome" paint offered as an option on the 2004 Ford SVT Mustang Cobra. It contained aluminum flakes and mica and was applied using a different process than normal. The effect was a paint job that shifted color from a metallic topaz to cobalt blue to royal purple to deep onyx black. Trick paint like that, along with more natural tones, is in our future, but silver will not soon be supplanted as our most preferred paint.
[Source: The Detroit News]
_opt_thumbnail.jpg)
_thumbnail.jpg "2011 Audi A8: Live from Miami")
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
fordman 5:44PM (10/28/2006)
Silver is only preferred because dealers push it down our throats. Dealers concistlently order vehicles in silver and black because they are "safe" colors. Then when you want a car thats all thats there or you have to order one and wait 2 months. Because you are excited and the dealer is pushy, you end up buying the silver. Silver was popular 2 years ago. Not now.
Reply
Taylor Alexander 5:45PM (10/28/2006)
Trick paint like that is just annoying... From one angle (to the car), you see all different colors, because of the different angles of each surface, and the car looks like some drunken idiot painted it all different colors. It's a cool trick, but i don't actually think it looks good at all...
-Taylor
Reply
Johnny 5:46PM (10/28/2006)
Silver is popular because every manuafacturer thinks it is popular and makes us buy it. Thats all that sits at dealers, a row of silver cars. Silver was great a few years back. I rather go for green, blue, white, and so on.
Reply
DamonZ 5:49PM (10/28/2006)
I hate silver. I love the Honda Odyssey. It has such cool colors like brown, green, aqua blue and wine red. Look down the freeway, everything is silver grey and black. Hate it.
p.s. I have a white 2005 330i by the way.
Reply
Scott 5:58PM (10/28/2006)
Hell I actually looked for a silver car the last time I went shopping, for good reason. I owned a black truck while my girlfriend had a silver car. To keep mine looking good I had to wash it at least once a week, and even that didn't keep up with the rain spots, pollen, and dust. Meanwhile, she has literally gone 2+ years without a carwash and from twenty feet away you'd never know it, the dirt and stuff just doesn't show at all. Granted there's some other colors that act similarly, but I'd rather drive silver and keep more of my Saturday afternoons away from the hose and bucket.
Reply
Alex Taylor III 5:56PM (10/28/2006)
My last two purchases were silver. I did not want it to be but had no choice. In the summer of 2001 I bought a Honda S2000. I asked for suzuka blue. They did not have it. They told me 4 months wait. However the dealer had ordered 3 S2000 two in silver 1 in black sitting there. I called around and no one had a blue. I then decided on red, no luck there either. I bought the silver reluctantly.
Last year traded the S2000 and the wife a mercedes C350 sedan. Only thing at any dealership was silver, black, and one white. Mercedes offers 14 colors for the C-Class, but dealers would only stock silver basically. So we grudgingly bought another Silver car.
Reply
Gunder54-0 5:58PM (10/28/2006)
I liked silver too, im getting tired of it.
It seems car companies think we are supposed to like grey next.
Most cars offer grey now.
Reply
Aki 6:00PM (10/28/2006)
Silver all the way and nothing but!
Reply
MustangFever18 6:02PM (10/28/2006)
Silver is too common.
Give me a yellow 'tang and im happy.
Reply
Adam 6:04PM (10/28/2006)
I would love a brown car. A brown BMW 550i or Brown Porsche 911. Thats a head turner.
Reply
iQuack 6:17PM (10/28/2006)
I agree with Scott #6 above.
There's no place for me to wash a car at home, so my car collects dust, etc. for weeks--sometimes months--before I car run it through a car wash.
My last car was white which hid dust well, but I think silver looks cleaner longer.
I think the reason silver is common is that it's viewed by many car buyers as a hi-tech color--similar to the newest flat panels, CPUs, audio equipment, etc. Also, silver (or metallic gray) is the color of machinery so appropriate for cars, too.
I'd never owned a silver car, so as common as it is, it was new for me. Also, the 2004 Accord EX-L sedan I bought included a black interior which was available only with silver, and I wanted the black interior.
Yes, silver Honda Accords are everywhere, but if the only complaint about something is that it's common, so what?
Reply
Shak 7:06PM (10/28/2006)
I've always loved the red from BMW and Audi but insurance seems to think people who buy red cars tend to drive faster.
Dolphin Grey from Audi was great. I'd wish I had that rather than my "Brilliant Black."
Reply
Jim in Tampa 6:28PM (10/28/2006)
I read an article about two years ago that said silver cars have more accidents and less speeding tickets because the color is so muted and not easily seen.
Reply
joemalone 6:30PM (10/28/2006)
I think getting silver because it allows you to keep your car filthy is wrong.
You are detroying your paint. Go to an automatic carwash at a gas station.
I just dont know why automakers swing so extremely on colors. Why cant they all offer ten colors and in relative similar supply. Mercedes is one of the bad ones. How often do you see a Mercedes thats not silver or black?
Dont get me wrong, I dont mind silver. However I do agree with the guys above, a lot of dealers give us few choice when we need a car right there and there.
Reply
fordman 6:34PM (10/28/2006)
Dealer Managers stock lots with silver because it is a safe color.
People buy silver because thats whats available.
Dealer Managers think "wow, good for me to order silver, they seem to sell." Then orders more silver.
Then the cycle goes on.
Reply
JON 6:35PM (10/28/2006)
I saw what seemed like Black on a Mercedes ,but upon closer inspection the light on the car revealed that it had a sort of deep dark blue in it .It just highlighted the design lines of the car perfectly.Very sophisticated ,rich and sporty.Haven't seen it since.
Reply
MC 6:48PM (10/28/2006)
#!5 - It's called Black Opal and I agree... it's sweet looking!
Reply
That One Person 7:18PM (10/28/2006)
Silver is the most preferred paint? I see more red, black, yellow, green and tan cars. I like silver. It kind of makes any car look a little more upscale. Plus its nice to wash your car and not worry about water spots (well, I dont exactly care about water spots in the first place). My Focus was silver...which was nice. It never got too hot in the summer...unlike my dark blue Regal. But I think my next car will be silver. It is a nice color...
Reply
Bill 7:22PM (10/28/2006)
I hate silver, gray, and I love black but only if it's kept immaculate- and I don't have the time or facilities to keep it immaculate.
I bought a car (Mazda3) in Feb, and I said to the dealer outright, during the first 30 seconds we spoke, that I was flexible on the colors offered, EXCEPT for silver, gray, and black. I won't get into a long story, but it got to the point where I nearly had to scream at the salesman, who kept trying to push grey, silver, and black on me. I am a quiet, laid-back guy, but he was bugging the crap out of me and I finally put my finger in his face and said "For the 100th time g*dda++it, don't ask me that question again!! Find me a Mazda3 5-speed Touring package with moonroof in ANY color but silver, gray, or black, or you're not getting a sale."
Long story short, I put a deposit on a blue one, but oops the other dealer had already sold it. Repeat cycle, repeat me cursing at the salesman (for the same reason), and they finally got me one in red.
Reply
JON 7:26PM (10/28/2006)
Thanks MC #16.I'm gonna write that down (black opal).Maybe,one day,that'll be on my dream car.
Reply