White, black lead the car colourway in 2017

White was the most popular colour on new cars last year, with black following in a distant second.

According to the BASF Asia Pacific colour report, 49 per cent of new cars sold in 2017 were white. Just 12 per cent were black, while red, silver and grey made up 8 per cent of the market each.

Fans of brightly-coloured cars will be disappointed to hear violet, orange and green each made 1 per cent of new cars sales, lagging behind gold (3 per cent) and brown (4 per cent).

Although white dominates all-round, breaking into individual segments brings unique trends. White accounts for 48 per cent of the sub-compact market, followed by grey and silver with 12 per cent each. Red makes up 9 per cent of the market, and blue accounts for a further 7 per cent.

The compact market is dominated by white (54 per cent) but red (9 per cent) outranks grey (7 per cent) and black (8 per cent).

Only in the large car market does black outsell white, with 48 per cent and 30 per cent market share respectively.

"The exclusive next-generation colour for luxury and sporty models will be grey, as it is a reliable but stylish future colour," said Chiharu Mitsuhara, head of BASF colour design in Asia Pacific.

"And the diverse effects of new greys will make the body more attractive. Furthermore, various shades of blue represent the individual and environmentally friendly values. It evokes our exciting, but realistic future.”

MORE: Industry sales results