Autoblog

White remains world's most popular car paint color, copper and bronze rising

Jonathon Ramsey — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 16:00:00 EST

When it came to paint colors on new cars, for ten years, silver was the one hue to rule them all, not just extending its lead through 2009 and 2010 but doing so in the U.S., Europe and Asia. The revolution came in 2011, when white took over as the top color in the States and black claimed the number one spot in Europe, silver maintaining its hold in the Orient.

The annual study by the paint experts at PPG Industries notes how the the colorless hue has made more gains this year, white cars being the number one choice here and in Europe and tied for first place with silver cars in Asia. Black took second place in every market. Here, silver and gray grabbed third place, while our European cousins displayed their taste for 50 shades of metallic: gray took third place on its own, silver in fourth, four points behind. In Asia, "natural," which includes browns, tans, golds, oranges and yellows, was the pigment of choice after white and black.

Further back in the pack, mineral and alloy shades like gold, copper and bronze are getting more buyers, and based on some of the colors being previewed for 2015 and 2016 it looks like our automotive future has more than a chance of sparkle. The PPG press release below has all the trends and the numbers.

Continue reading White remains world's most popular car paint color, copper and bronze rising

White remains world's most popular car paint color, copper and bronze rising originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 11 Oct 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Has Apple's influence made white cars cool?

George Kennedy — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Design/Style

When you think of Apple products, what color comes to mind? If you purchased a MacBook this year, maybe aluminum's gray hue, but for everyone else, the color that likely comes to mind is that clean white, maybe with a white Apple logo in the middle. According to a Fortune article, that prevalence may have led to a shift in popular car colors. While silver was the longtime favorite color, designers have apparently fallen for white. Says the report "Prior to Apple, white was associated with things like refrigerators or tiles in your bathroom. Apple made white valuable."

But not too fast, as the Yahoo! story that the Fortune article cites point to brown as a leading color in the modern car market. Jane Harrington, Global Color Manager for paint company PPG offered her insights on why that may be: "Think of the experience of a good coffee, good chocolate, great pieces of wood." Apparently, we associate the color brown with genuine materials and handmade luxury.

We could always do as the Yahoo! post did and cite our very own Alex Nunez: "We grew up at a time when you had all these brown cars in active use... this stuff is sort of subliminally ingrained as a feel good thing - these browns and earth tone colors."

How much does Nunez appreciate brown cars, you ask? He's only the founder of the Brown Car Appreciation Society. Hey, everyone has to have a thing.

Has Apple's influence made white cars cool? originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Automotive color palettes are headed back in time

Jeff Sabatini — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 18:01:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying, China, Design/Style

Paint is not all that exciting, hence the phrase, "like watching paint dry." This means that automotive paint suppliers don't usually have much to talk about, outside of the annual silver-is-the-most-popular-car-color press releases that get picked up by every media outlet on Earth. This one, however, is a bit different.

BASF Automotive Coatings releases an annual automotive color trend report, one that tries to predict what colors will be the most popular, some five years from now. This year's verdict is heavy on so-called "natural" colors like browns, greens and blues. These earth tones will be joined by "berry" and copper shades in the automotive color palette of the future, according to BASF.

If you're thinking this sounds like a return to the Porsche color scheme of the 1970's, you're on the right track. Further reinforcing the notion that the next wave of cars might more resemble those of the Me Generation is this point: BASF says that China's importance in the global auto market is influencing it to develop "various shades of gold." Which makes us wonder if perhaps some other division of BASF might be working on reinventing the Eight-Track tape.

Scroll down to read the full press release.

Continue reading Automotive color palettes are headed back in time

Automotive color palettes are headed back in time originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 26 Jul 2012 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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World's Most Popular Car Color: Silver under threat from Black

Zach Bowman — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 19:25:00 EST

Filed under: Etc.

2010 DuPont Automotive Color Popularity Study - Click above for high-res image gallery

DuPont has rolled out its annual Automotive Color Popularity Report, and it looks like the long-reigning king may be under threat from a new foe. Silver held the most popular color title for seven years until 2007, when it was dethroned by the likes of white and white metallic. That trend carried over for 2008, but in 2009, silver took its place in the spotlight once again. Now it looks like black may be staging a comeback. This year, of all the cars sold around the world, 26 percent went home with a silver paint job, but 24 percent rolled out of the factory with a black coat of shiny.

Meanwhile, white, white pearl and grey soaked up just 16 percent of all cars sold in 2010. Dupont says that black's popularity is largely propelled by the color's success in markets outside of the U.S., where noir doesn't quite have the same swagger as elsewhere. In fact, here in North America, white retained its popularity with a three percent lead over black and a four-percent jump over silver.

And what about the least popular color of the year? That one goes to yellow and gold, with just 1 percent of all new vehicles swaddled in the color of sunshine and the 70's. Hit the jump for the full press release. Hat tip to Brent!

Gallery: 2010 DuPont Automotive Color Popularity Study

[Source: DuPont]

Continue reading World's Most Popular Car Color: Silver under threat from Black

World's Most Popular Car Color: Silver under threat from Black originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 07 Dec 2010 19:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Study: Silver stretches its lead as most popular car color

Jeff Glucker — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 08:57:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying, Etc., Design/Style

When PPG started keeping track of cars sales by color back in 1990, the superstar of the car color world has been silver, and according to firm's latest study, it shows no signs of slowing down. For the tenth year in a row, the silver, charcoal and gray category are numero uno amongst new car shoppers. In 2008, it accounted for 20 percent of vehicles sold and that figure climbed to 25 percent in 2009, reaching its current zenith of a 31 percent.

Slotting in behind silver are black and white, which tied for second with 18 percent apiece. Red garnered 11 percent while blue was close behind with 10 percent. Coming in last, with just four percent of the action, is the color green. Consumer color choices have come full circle from where they were 16 years ago. Back then, green held the top spot and silver came in near the bottom.

Silver is not just the favorite choice for consumers in North America. The Europeans go with the shade 32 percent of the time, while Asian car shoppers opted for it on 33 percent of vehicles sold this past year.

[Source: PPG]

Continue reading Study: Silver stretches its lead as most popular car color

Study: Silver stretches its lead as most popular car color originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 06 Oct 2010 08:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PPG study says silver continues nine-year reign as most popular auto paint color

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Design/Style

Silver just won't give up its nine-year choke hold as the most popular color choice for cars and trucks, both in the United States and abroad. In fact, the silver and gray category actually picked up an additional five percent on the rest of the field with a market share of roughly 25 percent in 2009.

Moving on down the list shows that Americans are also fond of white (18 percent market share), black (16 percent) and red (12 percent). All told, all other colors combined add up to less than one third of all vehicles sold in America. Silver also took the top spot in both Europe and the Asia Pacific region. Why are gray shades so popular with new car buyers? According to Jane E. Harrington, PPG manager of color styling and automotive coatings:

What helps drive silver's popularity are all of the innovative effects that really make silver shine... much more than just a simple gray. Silver tones work well with today's tinted metallic textural looks. The diversity of silver, from subtle hue shifts to dimensional metallic flake appearances, works with a variety of vehicle styles.

Want to know more? Click past the break for the press release from PPG. Thanks for the tip, Leslie!

[Source: PPG]

Continue reading PPG study says silver continues nine-year reign as most popular auto paint color

PPG study says silver continues nine-year reign as most popular auto paint color originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Color trend update: Blue gaining on White

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:59:00 EST

Filed under: Trends, Etc., Lifestyle

Click above to view gallery of more happy and confident cars

Each year, DuPont does a study on color trends in the automotive industry. As the leader in supplying finishes for both the new and aftermarket auto realms, this is the kind of information that the company needs to know. Thankfully, DuPont's researchers always share their findings with the rest of us, and last year it was reported that white had taken over from silver as the color in which to be seen. This year, the pigment company decided to shake things up with a mid-year check on the multi-hued situation around the world, and it seems that blue, which is also the new green, is making a bit of a run at adding some pizazz that's been missing from simple achromatic white. Interestingly, the masses seem to be reacting just a little bit to the economic downturn that this country has been facing, choosing simple solids instead of more flashy hues. Perhaps those downers are just lacking in self-worth.

Gallery: Pixar CARS Photochops

[Source: DuPont]

Color trend update: Blue gaining on White originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Does car color correlate with personal confidence?

Chris Shunk — Wed, 14 May 2008 19:57:00 EST

Filed under: Etc.

Click above to view gallery of more happy and confident cars

We've long suspected that the color of your car can tell others a lot about you, but the fact-finders at CNW Market Research have done extensive studies on the matter, and the results are a bit surprising. Many associate bright colors with confidence and perhaps even cockiness, but according to CNW's study, bright colors mean that you are likely to have below-average confidence. More sedate pigments like emerald green and dark blue reportedly point to a greater possibility of above average self-worth. Since the study was done over time, CNW was also able to gauge swings in emotion, and not surprisingly the more incognito paint-jobs were adorned by owners with more stable moods. Hot colors like orange, red, and yellow are consistent with wild mood swings.

Now, we know that just because you drive a screaming yellow car doesn't necessarily mean that you're ready for a shrink, but the study is interesting nonetheless. One thing we question is that there are a lot more colors that denote an unhappy person than there were colors for confident folks, and the percentages were definitely skewed towards an overall lack of confidence. Also keep in mind that CNW once determined through statistical analysis that the Hummer was greener than a Toyota Prius, so its results can be taken with a grain of salt. Hit the jump to view the car color chart, and let us know if you fit the bill. You can also check out some CARS with personality in our fun photoshop gallery below.

Gallery: Pixar CARS Photochops

[Source: US News & World Report]

Continue reading Does car color correlate with personal confidence?

Does car color correlate with personal confidence? originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 14 May 2008 19:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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