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.

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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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White ousts silver as America's favorite automotive paint color

Jeff Sabatini — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying, China, Europe, Japan, UK, Design/Style

When it comes to tastes in automobiles, Europeans and Americans tend to be on opposite sides of the spectrum. Small trumps big. Manual over automatic. Car against truck. Black versus white.

That's right, automotive paint supplier PPG says 20% of new cars in North America were white in 2011, while black dominated Europe with 26%. The Asian market preferred the neutrality of silver, which colored 25% of vehicles sold there.

Truth be told, none of the three major global markets embraced any real colors, as white, silver, and black made up the top three in each region. In North America, the order was white-silver-black, Europeans had it black-white-silver, while Asians chose silver-white-black. White took over the top spot globally with, of course, silver and black tied for second. Last year, silver topped PPG's list.

Perhaps the most important detail we found in PPG's press release was this factoid: "40 percent of the automotive consumers said they would prefer a wider range of color choices."

Read the entire release after the jump.

Continue reading White ousts silver as America's favorite automotive paint color

White ousts silver as America's favorite automotive paint color originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 06 Oct 2011 15:30:00 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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