Car buyers paint it black: most popular car colours revealed
Just one in a 1000 would paint their car purple
MOTORISTS play it safe when it comes to car colour choice, according to analysis of new car searches.
Number crunching by car buying website carwow found that more than two-thirds (67.26%) of its customers during the first four months of 2019 picked a monochromatic colour for their new motor.
Black proved to be the most popular, earning the approval of more than a fifth (21.66%) of site visitors; followed by white (18.98%) and grey (18.68%).
Injecting the road network with a dash of colour were the 15.69% who decided to spec their car in blue, and the approximately one-in-10 (10.76%) who picked a shade of red over all other options.
With conservative colour choices the order of the day, it’s not a shock to find bright and vibrant hues well down the order. Fewer than 1% plumped for orange paint, and just 0.29% felt yellow was the right colour for them.
Even more subtle shades failed to captivate many car buyers: for example, just one in every thousand carwow users showed a preference for purple. But it seems gold is only a favourite of Auric Goldfinger, the villain from 1964 Bond film Goldfinger, as it languished in last place in the table, with 0.09%.
The more conservative colour choices differ a bit from the paints motorists picked 20 years ago. Data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders reveals blue was the most popular new car colour in 1999, with red ranking third overall and green green following in fourth place.
Mat Watson, carwow’s motoring expert, said: “There are loads of different reasons behind why you would ‘play it safe’ and opt for a car in black or white. It’s often the cheapest option as it’s standard, but another perceived benefit for drivers who change their car regularly is the most popular colours are the easiest to sell on.”
There’s a chance, however, that more flamboyant colour palettes could soon make a comeback. According to Watson, “With the increasing range of cars and custom colours available, and a new generation of image-conscious insta-Brits behind the wheel we’d expect to see a broader range on the roads in the future”.
Top 14 car colours of 2019 so far
| Colour | Percentage |
| Black | 21.66% |
| White | 18.98% |
| Grey | 18.68% |
| Blue | 15.69% |
| Red | 10.76% |
| Silver | 7.94% |
| Orange | 0.94% |
| Green | 0.82% |
| Brown | 0.76% |
| Beige | 0.32% |
| Yellow | 0.29% |
| Two-tone | 0.16% |
| Purple | 0.10% |
| Gold | 0.09% |
Top 5 car colours over time
| 1999 | 2009 | 2019 (so far) | |
| 1 | Blue | Black | Black |
| 2 | Silver | Silver | White |
| 3 | Red | Blue | Grey |
| 4 | Green | Grey | Blue |
| 5 | Black | Red | Red |
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