Can the colour of a car affect its value and price?

The most popular car colours are white, black, grey and silver. This can be easily verified and confirmed by taking a stroll through the car park of a shopping centre or supermarket. These colours account for more than 70% of total global car production. Cars in red, blue and brown-beige follow in the next places, with a percentage share of 6% to 9%. The popularity of a colour is influenced by fashion - by following trends over the years, we can see a shift in preferences from dark, neutral colours at the very beginning of motoring, through more vivid ones from the 50s and 60s, to today's more neutral ones.

We like colours that do not make us stand out.

The popularity of neutral colours is based on their simplicity, but also on experience. The vast majority of drivers expect to use one car for several years, so care should be taken when choosing a colour, as people's preferences change over time. The safe choice of colour for buyers is usually the one used by the manufacturer for the front cover of the brochure - chosen by a team of people to show the car in the most interesting way. Popular car colours remain dominant because most new cars are bought directly from the dealer's forecourt, who know which colours will sell quickly.

A large number of cars are sold to company fleets and car rental companies. These customers also prefer neutral colours and stock their fleets accordingly, probably because they are easier to wrap in the fleet's colours or are acceptable to the renter. What is more, unlike seasonal colours (such as green in 1996), neutral colours are not at risk of going out of fashion.

It is important to remember that this line of thinking is quite safe, but also logical - changing the colour of a car is much more difficult and expensive than changing the colour of a jacket, for example, so it is better to ‘play it safe’. However, it is worth mentioning that a SEALER-type primer (e.g. CP 363 by Profix) allows you to change the colour of your entire fleet in a short period of time.

Silver is still in vogue

Chris Webb, external colour and trend designer for GM North America, suggests that silver is the most popular colour because it reflects sunlight intensely, which emphasises the shapes, but most importantly, dirt is not visible on it, as it is on white or black. Silver cars retain their resale value better than any other colour, selling for around 10% more than white, which has led many UK security agencies to replace standard white patrol cars with silver models. However, there is a noticeable downward trend in the popularity of this colour.

However, there are brand-specific colours, such as Ferrari red. Here, the specific colour translates into sales of the car, and thus bypasses current market trends.

Gender preferences

A survey by Forbes revealed gender differences in preferred car colours. Slightly more men than women preferred red, while slightly more women than men preferred silver. Every vehicle category, from electric cars to giant SUVs, exhibits an overall ‘personality’ that tends to appeal differently to men and women. It is probably no coincidence that the top three colours preferred by men (red, orange and black, each with similar percentages) are very desirable colours for sports cars. Sports cars are strongly associated with huge engine power and beautiful women. Men have a stronger preference for pickups with a solid 200%, convertibles with 33.5% and coupés with 31.6%. Yellow is a striking example of the combination of male preferences for car types and colours. Around 13.9% of all yellow cars in 2016 were convertibles. This shows men's interest in sporty and flashy cars.

The top three colours preferred by women are silver, bronze and gold, and recently also turquoise. These colours are very common in minivans and SUVs, which in the United States are commonly associated with parenthood, which is why the dominant colours in this segment are those that appeal to the fairer sex. Women have a stronger preference for SUVs (23.1%) and minivans (21.5%). Since the burden of childcare falls more heavily on mothers than on fathers, women decide on the purchase of a suitable vehicle for transporting children. The popularity of the colour navy reflects the interest in more practical, everyday cars such as minivans.

Men pay more for colour

The average price of a used car in the USA for the colours preferred by men is $18,196 compared to $14,938 for the colours preferred by women. Looking at the most expensive colour preferences for each gender, the average price of a used car in yellow is $20,601, while the average for cars in turquoise is only $11,053. This shows that the average price for men's favourite colours is 22% higher than women's favourite colours. Car manufacturers have noticed the correlation between consumer preferences for car colours and can already offer dedicated colours for women, which translates into financial results.

What colour in the future?

One thing is certain: the neutral colours that currently dominate will continue to dominate the automotive market, but it is predicted that there may be a trend towards more radical designs, such as green, pink and colour-changing finishes (e.g. StarDust by Profix). The choice of road safety colours will also be important, as both drivers and insurance companies prefer colours that are easy to see in order to avoid collisions. Autonomous vehicles should be mentioned here, as their colour is bright due to the operation of all the sensors.