Why Are Car Colour Choices So Dull?

American streets resemble an old black-and-white movie.

Last year, U.S. car thought white the best colour. It was followed by silver and black, according to experts in automotive paints. That’s been the case for a decade. This trend goes back 70 years and one that one that Volkswagen experts say it will not change anytime soon. There is only the merest glimmer of hope for the colour-curious.

LGBTI buyers may be more adventurous than most, in many areas, but when it comes to cars, we are just like anyone else. Fashion plays a major part in choice, as we keep an eye on the resale value. Would you buy a hot pink car? No, of course not. You’d never be able to sell the car when it comes time to trade up. We follow the fashion, because that’s what all buyers do.

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“Colour is always shifting, and our colour perception is always evolving depending on what we see, what we observe, and what we live with,” said Volkswagen Senior Colour and Trim Designer Jung Lim “Limmy” Park.

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Old films of American roads from 1950 to 1970 showed quaint hues of aqua, cherry red, salmon and gold. These colours were common then. From 1970 to 1990, we got boring, with neutrals like browns, greens and beiges.

Today, rather dull of whites, blacks, greys and silvers make up over half of the market. Only 21% of cars in 2020 were red, green or blue. Americans reportedly say they like black for luxury vehicles, with grey replacing silver because it is considered more up market.

“Silver used to be way more popular than grey, but it has really flipped,” said Park. “Grey brings so many variants from cool to warm, dark to light, luxurious shimmering to outdoorsy flat effect. Thus, grey speaks more to the persona that drivers want to communicate.”

Volkswagen says their colour design is inspired by such things as nature, food, athletics, to new digital technology and virtual experiences. Colours are created to enhance the lines of whatever vehicle is in question.

Colour design “is complicated and a complex theory that depends on the design of the car, type of the car, the size of the car and also types of trends that project on certain demographics and lifestyles,” said Park.

While colour trends in fashion, interior design and technology are going global, automotive colour trends are still highly regional. It’s not just cultural preferences; a red in the United States can look different from a red in Germany due to the surroundings of that region.

“Working in the colour world, I learned that Asia Pacific, Europe and North America have very distinct colour preferences,” said Park. “For example, Asia Pacific is actually the least colourful [region] … and in Europe, compared to North America, grey has always been more popular than silver, as has been blue.”

“Colour preferences really reflect the unique social and cultural trends and even geography [of a region],” Park added.

While buyers still hunt for black, white and shades in between, there are signs of life, in interest for bright and bolder colours. The reason? Because so much of our lives are now filtered through screens – from phones to tablets to computers to televisions – a certain segment of drivers will want vehicles that visually pop in real life as they do virtually.