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.