White Most Popular Car Color Again, Wild New Colors Emerging
Boring, bland and easy to blend in with but undeniably popular – white is still the most popular car color choice.
Automotive paint supplier PPG’s annual color survey revealed that the color stayed on top just like last year. White was the winner, accounting for 21 percent of new cars in North America this year but black took a close second with 19 percent. Silver and gray made up 16 percent, but what about off-the-walls colors like those on cars like the Chevrolet Spark?
Short of Crayola inventing crazy names for its crayon colors, car companies come in a close second for coming up with nutso color names. “Snakeskin Green” makes sense and sounds cool on the Dodge Viper, but what about Chevrolet calling its red Spark “salsa” or the green one seen above “Jalapeno?”
“On a Ford Fiesta, MINI Cooper or Fiat 500, there is a brighter range of colors offered than would be on a Lincoln MKX or a Cadillac,” PPG color manager Jane Harrington said. “If I think of the Volkswagen Beetle, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bad color on a Beetle.”
The PPG survey said 77 percent consider exterior color to be a big factor in their purchase decision — and why not? A car is generally the second-largest purchase someone makes, so choosing to roll around looking like a scene kid’s glow stick on wheels might not be easy for everyone to swallow.
Then again, people buying cars colored that way might feel the same about being seen in something bland.
[ Source: Automotive News]
Luke is an energetic automotive journalist who spends his time covering industry news and crawling the internet for the latest breaking story. When he isn't in the office, Luke can be found obsessively browsing used car listings, drinking scotch at his favorite bar and dreaming of what to drive next, though the list grows a lot faster than his bank account. He's always on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> looking for a good car conversation. Find Luke on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> and <A title="Luke on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/112531385961538774338?rel=author">Google+</A>.
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