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(figures from paint manufacturer Standox Germany)

http://www.openpr.de/news/686276/Autofarben-Trends-2012-Weiss-ist-nicht-zu-stoppen.html

Looking at the cars loading on the Shuttle in both directions I came to these proportions:

Dark grey/black (mainly grey) 60%
White/silver 30%
Red 5%
Everything else (essentially "blue") 5%

Surprised to see black so high up - it's used as a colour for large SUVs and limousines, but not really for everyday cars.

Brown is up to 6% from about zero!

MG is offering bright, attractive colours as well as white, black, grey and silver. Wonder how well they are selling?

 

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Give it 5 years and you won't be able to sell a white car. Stick with black and silver and you can't go far wrong.

I remember red was THE colour at the end of the 80s, then green. However, there is so much dark grey today that there will be safety in numbers.

White has come from nowhere, blue tried, now brown (?) is on the march. :dunno:

 

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The most depressing thing is that "Grey" is in third place.

Yes, actual "colour" colours are only about ¼ of the total. Very simple to change for a fashion statement. In twenty years, you'd think this lack of colour would look as strange as the deep reds and sandy blues of the 60s do now!

 

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In Germany earlier this week, I saw the first new brown cars I think I've seen since the Allegro and the Mk1 Astra - a B*W 118 and a Dacia(!)

 

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I don't think it's anything to do with a colourless character, and more about residuals; neutral, boring coloured cars tend to sell better, so financially silver is a safer bet than red. As such, for people who don't care too much about colour (most people who view cars as tools) it's an easier choice.

this was true some years ago, certainly. It won't change quickly but a car you buy now to sell in four years' time could look very old-fashioned compared to the new fashion.

Ten years ago or so, because of residuals, the police began buying silver cars instead of white ones and covering them in stickers. Now, police cars are white again - white is often cheaper to buy than silver.

 

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Update: I've just been reading an article about the car paint development section of BASF and they expect green to be in in about three years, which is the time they take to develop a colour.

I note "green" is only 1% in that graphic and the only new green cars I have seen recently are turbo nutter Fords for people who think the orange ones are wimpy.

Apparently "green" has been seen as "deliberately environmentally-friendly" (e.g. for hybrids) recently but this is changing to "solid and dependable".

And not "turbo nutter".

 

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Update from car club ADAC, quoting BASF again:

This time comparing Germany 2012 with 1982 in % (1982 in first brackets) [Europe as per graph in OP in square brackets]


Black 29.5 (1.8) [23]
Grey 29.4 (13.0) [15] [Germany has twice the proportion of grey cars of Europe]
White 15.7 (11.6) [24] (ignores it fell to zero in the meantime) [loads more white outside Germany]
Blue 8.2 (15.5) [8]
Brown 6.6 ( 4.5) [6]
Red 5.9 (22.7) [6]
Yellow 1.6 (12.2) [1]
Green 1.0 (14.5) [1]
Other 2.1 ( 4.2) [2]

 

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Here's a comparison of Germany 2011 with 2000. Brown is the big winner - we already know about black and white. Green has fallen to less than white was!

Give up on this formatting!
Colour 2011 2000
Black 31.0 18.9
Grey/Silver 30.9 32.9
White 13.0 4.2
Blue 9.0 24.1
Brown 6.0 0.1
Red 5.8 7.4
Yellow 1.4 2.2
Green 1.1 9.5
Other 0.7 -
Purple 0.6 0.5
Orange 0.4 0.3

 

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And here's September 2013 - black and silver are drooping a bit, red, brown, and yellow are going up, but the big winner is white!

Colour (Sep)2013/2011/2000
Black 28.5/31.0/18.9
Grey/Silver 27.0/30.9/32.9
White 18.4/13.0/4.2
Blue 8.7/9.0/24.1
Brown 6.5/6.0/0.1
Red 6.3/5.8/7.4
Yellow 1.8/1.4/2.2

Other* 2.8/2.8/10.3

*includes Green, Purple and Orange. Green was 9.5% of the total in 2000 (double White!)

(source for month September 2013: German DVLA quoted in auto motor + sport)

 

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Walking past the local B*W dealership today, I noticed they had no coloured cars at all apart from one new blue one.

There were also no silver/grey ones - all the rest were either black or white, and they re-arranged in the course of the morning so that the ones by the road were all white.

 

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German car club ADAC reports these are the top five in Germany in 2013 per official stats (2012 German figures in brackets):

1. Black 28.3% (29.5%)

2. Grey 27.9% (29.4%)

3. White 17.9% (15.7%)

4. Blue 8.5% (8.2%)

5. Red 6.3% (5.9%)

White is the big winner, brown was ahead of red last year but has slipped out of the top five. And last year Germany already had twice the proportion of white cars that total Europe had...(!) so given Germany's importance in total Europe, most other countries must have very few white ones!

 

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SMMT figures 2014 vs 2004. White is the massive winner.

(source http://www.smmt.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/Car-5.1.jpg )

EDIT I imagine that Germany and the UK are two of the four largest markets in the EU, so if they *both* have a substantially-higher proportion of white cars than the EU average, all the other countries together presumably have virtually no white cars.

Or the figures are inconsistent. (Can't believe "no white 500s"(!) )

 

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Autumn 2014: the new 2-series B*W is available in white or black (the only non-metallic colours) or:

1 metallic white, 1 metallic black
4 silvers/greys
1 brown (!)
3 blues (light blue for M Sport only)
1 red.

So out of 13 colours, only 5 are not black/white/silver/grey, and they are red, blue and brown!

 

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SEAT Leon:
2 Whites
1 Black
4 Silvers/Greys
2 Reds
3 Blues*
1 Brown
1 Green (sporting colour!)

*including "Tossa Blue"(!) (true in Germany) (borrowed from Audi? )

 

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I've owned a couple of BRG cars, and I heard that green cars had the reputation of being unlucky in the motor trade. Anyone else heard that myth?

of course BRG goes right back to carrying green as a tribute to Ireland. In some areas there and in Scotland a green car is a statement of allegiance (and never drive one near Ibrox).

Many people would not have a green car just as they would not have their house painted green out of superstition.

Note that in the mid-90s green was the top car colour.

 

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BRG is dated and has fallen out of favour, but more vibrant lime greens seem popular on modern superminis nowadays.

As we all know, "dated" is a very subjective and fashion-driven (hence likely to become "dated" in no time) term. Fashion can turn upside down in a twinkling(!).
A classic green will never "date". I saw an attractive oak green 15 reg MINI convertible today.

 

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AA: "top colour people want is blue"

The Top Car Colours 2015

(2013, 2011 scores in brackets)

Question: If you were given a free choice as regards the colour of your next car which of the following would you choose?

Blue 21% (23%, 23%)
Silver 19% (29%, 25%)
Black 18% (23%, 14%)
Red 14% (9%, 11%)
White 8% (4%, 4%)
Green 5% (6%, 7%)
Two colours i.e. white/black 3% (na)
Yellow 2% (1%,1%)
Beige 1% (1%, 1%)
Despite blue being the most popular choice overall, the actual percentage selecting blue fell, although silver was the biggest faller (29% in 2013 to 19% in 2015). Silver was most popular during the recession possibly as people wanted to feel prosperous by showing off a precious metal colour. The proportion selecting white and red also rose significantly in the last two years.

All I can say is that the ones who want blue don't get and a HUGE number of people must be made to drive white ones...

http://www.vcars.co.uk/news/aa-cars...p-car-colour-choice-for-aa-members-11415.html

 

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German car club ADAC reviews 2014. Beware appalling autotranslate: "substance representative" = "fabric salesman"...

Germany 2014:

1. Black 27.8%
2. Grey 27.2%
3. White 19.6%
4. Blue 8.7%
5. Red 6.0%
6. Brown 5.8% (apparently falling)
7. Other 5.0%

Smaller cars come in brighter colours but around 2/3 of cars sold in Germany are fleet cars.

Interestingly, out of 3,036,773 new registrations, yellow, orange, purple and green were the least popular. Volkswagen was in the top three of each (yellow 17k, orange 3k, purple 4k, green 4k) but the most-common purple marque was Nissan (5k) and green Opel (7k) (not Ford!).

It also mentions that a Volkswagen Golf is sold in 38 colours, a Mercedes C Class in 12 and a Fiat 500 in 13 - but the only colours which do not cost extra are grey (Golf), black or white (C class) or grey (500). [Certain(?)] other colours cost €300 (500), €1,356.50 (C class) and €2,210 (Golf)!


https://translate.google.co.uk/tran...n/die-beliebtesten-autofarben.html&edit-text=

 

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I note that on the Smart (trendy city car) there are ten colours: two whites; silver; grey; black: and five 'colour' colours - brown; red; blue; orange; and a colour called "Black to Yellow". So no green or purple - but brown, orange and yellow!

 

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What your car colour says about you | The AA Extraordinary Road Tales: - Telegraph

"Colour psychologist says 'take me to your car and I'll tell you who you are' "

UK 2014 sales:
1. White 22% "Obsessively clean" (?)
2. Black 19% - "I'm a gangsta" or "I'm a wannabe Mafia boss"
3. Grey. "Shy, withdrawing little mouse"(?) (Now explain grey Audis)
4. Blue. "Fun, sociable" - blue?
5. Red. "Look at me! Look at me!"