White claims the No.1 spot in automotive paint supplier Axalta’s annual ranking of the world’s most popular car colors.
Some 35% of new cars on the road today are white, followed by black and gray with 19% each, according to Axalta’s 69th annual Global Automotive Color Popularity Report. Results are tabulated on the company’s analysis of 2021 automotive build data in major markets.
White has been the most favored color on cars worldwide since 2011, with its popularity peaking at 39% in 2017. White declined three percentage points this year as its popularity declined across all markets, particularly China, with a 7% decrease. Gray increased 4 percentage points globally. Some 9% of new cars are silver, followed by red at 5% and brown/beige at 3%.
For a third straight year, Europe is the only major region to report gray as the most popular color at 27%, with white at 23% and black at 22%. But black continues to lead in the luxury car/SUV segment at 37%.
North American cars follow the global trend of white, gray and black (28%, 21% and 20%, respectively), followed by blue and silver at 10% each. The region has the world’s highest proportion of new red cars on the road at 8%.
Silver is most popular in South America as it ranks second behind white with 23% usage.
China has the biggest share of white cars overall, at 50%. Black is far behind at 22% and gray is third at 14%. China also has the fewest new red and blue cars among global markets at 3% and 2%, respectively, but has the world’s biggest share of yellow/gold cars (3%).
Other findings in the study:
- Europe and South Korea are tied for the biggest share of blue cars at 11%.
- Brown/beige, an also-ran in most markets at 4% or less, is the fourth most-popular car color in Russia, tied with black at 11%.
- Russia also has the world’s biggest share of new green cars, tied with Japan at 3%.
- While white is the most popular vehicle color overall in North America, black ranks second in the truck/SUV and luxury/luxury SUV segments, but gray is second in the compact/sport and intermediate/CUV segments.
