White, Silver most popular car colors in the world

White/white pearl has emerged as the fastest growing color to tie with silver as the world’s leading automotive color choices, according to the 2011 DuPont Automotive Color Popularity Report, released lately. A substantial increase in the popularity of white/white pearl globally in 2011 has enabled it to surpass longstanding rivals black and gray, to join silver at the top of the world color ranks in this year’s report.  The DuPont report, in its 59^th year, is the longest running and largest of its kind in the industry, includes automotive color popularity rankings and regional trends from 11 leading automotive regions of the world. 

In 2010, white/white pearl was tied for third with gray in the world color ranks with just 16 percent share, but its ongoing popularity in North America, combined with a surge in popularity in Europe, China, Korea, South America and South Africa, has helped to increase its position in 2011 to 22 percent globally. Black and gray dropped to third and fourth, respectively, in this year’s report with red and blue strengthening and holding positions in fifth and sixth place.

The top global vehicle colors in DuPont’s report are as follows:

1.   White/White Pearl and Silver – tie, 22 percent

3.   Black/Black Effect – 20 percent

4.   Gray – 13 percent

5.   Red – 7 percent

6.   Blue – 6 percent

7.   Brown/Beige – 5 percent

8.   Green – 2 percent

9.   Yellow/Gold – 1 percent

10. Others – 2 percent 

“While white/white pearl has historically been a popular color for vehicles, we’ve seen a bigger shift in its popularity this year than DuPont expected,” said Nancy Lockhart, DuPont color marketing manager. 

Silver and black have long been recognized in the top three for color popularity.  However, in the past few years, white/white pearl has been steadily growing in popularity outside of North America.  In 2011, it jumped by more than four percentage points, according to Lockhart. “There has been increased consumer acceptance for white, and our OEM customers are meeting consumer demand for the clean look it brings to vehicle design,” she said.  “Silver and black were once the top colors of luxury, but white has increased in this area. The overall trend for casual luxury has spread to numerous vehicle types. The expectation to have a luxurious feel to the vehicle is globally sought.  Classic white and pearlescent white effects are inspiring luxury design.

Europe: Luxury Segment Continues to be Dominated by Black

In Europe, black/black effect continued its popularity, with 25 percent share, led by the luxury/luxury SUV segment, with nearly 40 percent segment share.  Black/black effect has maintained its leadership in the region since 2007. DuPont expects this trend to continue in the near future, especially regarding black effect. White/white pearl made a surprising surge of about five percentage points over 2010, to reach 20 percent share, which is primarily because of the popularity of solid white across all model segments. 

“White also is seen as inspiration for the ecological megatrend in Europe, because it represents modern minimalism and future technology,” said Elke Dirks, DuPont color designer for Europe. “This trend also resulted in a considerable increase in white/white pearl in the luxury segment,” she explained. 

Gray (18 percent) and silver (15 percent) decreased in popularity this year, and blue rounded out Europe’s top five colors with 7 percent of the vehicle market.

DuPont has been bringing world-class science and engineering to the global marketplace in the form of innovative products, materials, and services since 1802. The company believes that by collaborating with customers, governments, NGOs, and thought leaders we can help find solutions to such global challenges as providing enough healthy food for people everywhere, decreasing dependence on fossil fuels, and protecting life and the environment.