White edges out silver as most popular color for autos
By Sharon Silke Carty, USA TODAY
DETROIT — After seven years leading the pack, silver has given up its title as the most popular vehicle color in North America, losing out by a small margin to white and pearl white, according to a study done by DuPont Automotive Systems.
White's rise in popularity is a sign that some new color, possibly red, blue or black, will emerge as North America's favorite hue in the next year or so, DuPont says. In the 55 years that DuPont, which manufactures vehicle paints, has released the study, white usually emerges as a favorite for a year or two in between changing trends.
The automakers rely on studies such as DuPont's to determine how many vehicles of each color to manufacture. Since most buyers purchase vehicles that are already produced and waiting on dealer lots, the art of predicting which colors will succeed has become crucial. Automakers and dealers try to avoid having too many risky colors out in the market, but dealers sometimes still are left discounting taxi yellow SUVs or burnt sienna crossovers.
Silver was the longest-reigning top color in the history of the study, says Karen Surcina, color marketing and technology manager at DuPont Automotive. Although it became known as a safe, somewhat boring color choice, silver was radical in 1999 when it first became the favorite color. Then, it was associated with shiny new cellphones, emerging technology and stainless steel appliances.
Silver, which represented newness in the beginning, came to represent safety later on, especially after Sept. 11, Surcina says.
Car buyers began relying on silver because they felt it could maintain resale value, she says.
White, on the other hand, is what Surcina calls a palate cleanser. Although it is currently popular in the fashion industry, which influences vehicle tones, it will likely have only a short stay at the top of the list as consumers move on to deeper, more vibrant colors.
Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute and author of Color: Messages and Meanings, says peoples' eyes get bored looking at the same colors all the time. But pearlized white, which sparkles in the sun and changes slightly as you walk around a car, may keep buyers interested longer.
Pearlized white became popular in recent years on luxury cars and has since moved to SUVs and crossovers.
Eiseman says she's not surprised buyers have preferred neutrals over the past decade. It's almost as if our collective unconscious is looking for something safe in a topsy-turvy world, she says.
"When people go to white, it's because there's so much concern in the world around us. There's so much muddy and unknown," Eiseman says. "Let's try to clear it all up. Nothing does that more than white does. White is the color of clarification."
Neutrals will continue to be popular as long as the economy remains "a bit dicey," she says.
According to the study, white also has become popular in Japan and Mexico. Black is most popular in Europe. And in China, buyers prefer black and silver almost equally. In South Korea and Brazil, drivers still prefer silver by a wide margin.
COLORS BY NUMBERS
Most popular colors for vehicles overall:
Solid/pearl white
19%
Silver
18%
Black
16%
Red
13%
Gray
12%
Blue
12%
Beige/brown
5%
Yellow/gold
3%
Green
2%
Source: 2007 DuPont Automotive Color Popularity Report
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Print | posted on Thursday, December 13, 2007 12:45 PM