Silver remains the top car color, but black is closing the gap

Silver and black are in close competition for the world's most popular car color this year. DuPont's 58th global automotive-color report showed just two percentage points separating silver from black as the preferred color--with black being substantially popular outside of North America.

After seven years running at the No. 1 spot, silver was displaced by white in 2007 and then reclaimed the throne in 2009. But this year, black is the chief rival.

“Black is so popular everywhere right now--mainly because it is shown as a luxury-type color--that it will probably surpass silver,” said Nancy Lockhart, DuPont color marketing manager. “Silver will always be a top color of preference. It just may not be No. 1.”

This year, silver held first place for South America, Brazil, China and South Korea and second for Japan, India and South Africa.

Gray was second to black for Europe, with silver in third. Mexico led with black and white, with silver in third place. Light neutrals and black held the top spots for the Asia/Pacific region. North America led with white/pearl for the fourth consecutive year, while black was in second for both luxury and compact sport cars.

Lockhart noted a surge in black as a top choice in China as well. She said luxury-type small cars are becoming a more unique segment outside of a young market wanting bright colors. A newer, emerging market is buying small cars with luxury-type accessories and colors, such as black.

White and gray are tied for third place globally this year, with gray increasing in popularity by three percentage points.

“If you want to change up your car from silver but aren't ready for a huge shift, gray is a space that can be updated easily,” Lockhart said. “You can add a little bit of hue to a gray and still keep it modern and simple, but you can add different color sparkle to the gray and make it a more complex color as well.”

She said she expects that gray will keep a seat among the top three colors.

The top 10 colors globally are silver (26 percent), black (24 percent), white/pearl (16 percent), gray (16 percent), red (6 percent), blue (5 percent), brown/beige (3 percent), green (2 percent), yellow/gold (1 percent), and others at less than one percent.

Silver led in popularity across all regions just three years ago, but regional tastes are influencing the trend as the automotive industry expands globally. All neutrals--silver, black and white--still compete for the top three among most regions. Analysts see a trend toward brown and beige gaining preference as well.

DuPont shares the global color-trends analysis with automakers as they're planning future car designs. Trends for the report come from the world's top automotive regions. This year's report includes trends from South Africa for the first time, which showed an overwhelming preference for white vehicles at 35 percent.

By Michelle Koueiter