Silver is the new white
October 5, 2009 by Matt Brogan
Confirming what even the most colour blind car spotter could tell you, silver is the new white.
Silver has taken the title of world’s most popular automotive colour for the ninth consecutive year.
According to PPG, a leader in automotive paints, 25 per cent of new cars purchased in North America over the last year were some shade of silver. That’s up from 20 per cent in 2008.
Just 15 years ago, only 8 per cent of the cars on the roads were silver.
“What helps drive silver’s popularity are all of the innovative effects that really make silver shine … much more than just a simple grey,” said Ms Jane E. Harrington, PPG manager, colour styling, automotive coatings.
“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.”
North American colour popularity:
- Silver (25 per cent)
- White (18 per cent)
- Black (16 per cent)
- Red (12 per cent)
- All others (29 per cent)
European colour popularity:
- Silver (35 per cent)
- Black (22 per cent)
- Blue (13 per cent)
- White (13 per cent)
- Red (9 per cent)
- All others (8 per cent)
In Australia silver coloured vehicles represent just over 29 per cent of all new car sales while in Asia more than one-third (34 per cent) of the new car buyers prefer the hue.
Print it: 
It’s also the most dangerous in overcast/rainy/foggy conditions (especially with the number of idiots who don’t turn their lights on during these conditions!)…
I agree Jake02, I have found during bright daylight it can sometimes blend very well in to surrounding paddocks and bush. The ADR’s should mandate daytime running lamps or low beam with engine running.
Couldn’t agree more.
LOL…somehow both my cars now are silver :D its a great colour that shows off the modern designs really well.
Silver cars don’t show the dust as much as black or white cars do, so you can save time and money spent washing your car. Silver tends to have a resale advantage over most other colours as well. Thats my two-cents…….
It depends on the car. For example, you don’t find silver Echo sells particularly well.
i actually think silver is really ugly. it seems far too boring. But i do like some silvers like the evo IX gun grey metalic colour..if its even considered silver.
…are grey and silver the same thing?
For some reason silver seems to suit European cars best (Audi BMW M/Benz etc). I don’t know why. I don’t think it suits cars like Commodore and Falcon all that well. Maybe its the shade of silver?
UMWAHT: no, grey/gun metal and silver are different.
Silver is the light coloured version. I agree – too many around but it does suite some cars better than others. White will be new retro look ;) The ipod revolution!
Your right. Just saw the new GTS in white(Top Gear Mag) and it looks like an angry stormtrooper. Silver looks good for luxo and premium cars but for sporty and exciting cars either black or white is the way to go.
I still prefer the old white ~
What about ‘Aluminium’ as a colour? Silver or Grey?
Aah silver…oh-so-ho-hum especially when i see sm exotics around the town. Merc SLK, BMW 3-series coupe, i just cant think why ppl cant go for a distinctive color. My ultimate one could be a lime green aston martin db9 volante with mocha seats
Wow! Lime green with Mocha seats. Thats um, er, ah, distinctive. Yes thats the word. Distinctive….
Re-sale might be a bit iffy!
But if it floats YOUR boat, then go for it!
I bought my Silver Liberty in early 07, and already then Silver was becoming old. White is the new Silver again, but gun-metal grey is also kicking along.
as long as it’s not black. black tint, whatever colour then black wheels. oooh yeah
Silver is my least favourite colour by far, its just so boring. And now seeing that its the most popular colour for the last 9 years kinda confirms my feeling that my taste is totally different to the general populace.
Silver hides chips pretty well, looks cleaner for longer, Id love a black car but only for a sunday driver, black is too hard to clean!!!!!!!
Wonder what the stats are for green, pink and orange paint? Do ‘rep mobile with spoiler’ drivers have exclusive taste?