Are The Roads Turning Gray?
- A study from iSeeCars found that grayscale colors made up 80 percent of vehicles sold in 2023 compared to 60.3 percent in 2004.
- Sports cars are not entirely immune to this graying effect, as even red is less common than in years past. Blue and orange seem to have replaced red as the dominant bright color.
- Psychology suggests warm colors like yellow, orange, and red evoke happiness and positive energy, while green, purple, and blue shades tend to calm and soothe the senses.
Methodology & Key Findings
A 2024 study from iSeeCars, an online automotive search engine and research website, revealed that consumer preferences for new car colors have experienced a steady shift across all segments for the last two decades.
Their research suggests up to 80 percent of new cars sold in 2023 were painted in grayscale colors of white, black, gray, and silver, with gray displaying a meteoric rise in market share, up by 81.9 percent since 2004. Grayscale colors range from white (on the lightest end of the spectrum) to black and every gray shade in between, including silver and other variations.
“Colorful cars appear to be an endangered species,” said Karl Brauer, Executive Analyst at iSeeCars. “They’ve lost half their market share over the past 20 years, and they could become even rarer in another 20 years.”
The folks at iSeeCars gathered and analyzed data from over 20 million used cars (2004 to 2023 model years) sold from January 2003 to April 2024. The study unearthed some interesting findings after calculating the share of car colors for every model year and the differences in share between cars sold for the past 20 years.
“The preponderance of grayscale cars on the roads today had us assuming the popularity of these colors was only going up,” Brauer said. “Our analysis of over 20 million cars over the past 20 years confirmed it.”
Grayscale Is Trending
The iSeeCars study found that in 2004, the grayscale colors of white, black, gray, and silver comprised 60.3 percent of the market. Two decades later, the share of grayscale vehicles has moved to 80 percent, meaning that buyer appetite for these colors has cut the percentage of non-grayscale cars on the road in half.
Of the four, gray was the biggest mover, with an 81.9 percent jump overall, going from an 11.7 percent market share in 2004 to 21.3 percent as of 2023. On the other hand, silver has lost its charm since 2004, when it held 19 percent of the color market share, dropping to just 9.1 percent in 2023 (representing a decline of over 50 percent).
More interesting is the continued preference for grayscale hues despite manufacturers offering other paint options, even if in a limited capacity. In 2004, the average new car was available in 7.1 colors, dropping slightly to 6.7 for vehicles sold in 2023. The question is, will grayscale shades wash out (no pun intended) all other colors over the next 20 years?
“A flattening of the curve in the past few years indicates a possible maximum market tolerance for these four colors,” Brauer said, suggesting that the market may be approaching a saturation point for white, black, gray, and silver vehicles.
According to a 2010 report by VoxEU, bright-colored cars are less likely to be stolen since they are more noticeable on the road and more challenging to resell or dispose of than grayscale vehicles, which blend in much easier.
Understanding The Grayscale Trend
The persistent lack of brighter colors on today’s roads has prompted other questions. Is the grayscale trend consumer-driven, or are automakers pushing more grayscale vehicles into production, knowing that white or black is more cost-effective from a manufacturer’s perspective than fancy non-grayscale paint?
“I think a push-and-pull effect is happening,” Brauer explained. “It’s obvious manufacturers are paying attention to consumer demand in adjusting their color palettes, and new car dealers are following suit in how they order the bulk of today’s cars. Both groups want to take every measure to ensure market demand and grayscale colors are a consistently safer bet.”
White is the most popular car color after surpassing black a decade ago, according to the study. However, black still increased its market share by more than half, while colors like beige, brown, gold, and purple have lost over 80 percent of their market share over the same period. “Every non-grayscale color lost ground over the past 20 years, leading to the undeniable dilution of our car color spectrum,” Brauer added.
Across All Segments
Equally as interesting is how the grayscale trend extends across all automotive industry segments, including trucks, SUVs, and passenger cars. “We looked at color trends across vehicle types and saw almost identical percentages regardless of body style,” Brauer said.
Also worth mentioning is the proliferation of crossovers and SUVs, which took grayscale colors to new heights. “Gray’s popularity across the SUV segment had it more than doubling in market share,” Brauer continued. “White and black also saw big gains among SUV shoppers, with those gains coming at the expense of silver, green, blue, and red.”
According to the iSeeCars study, green has made an exciting, albeit marginal, comeback compared to other non-grayscale colors. Green is the only one that has gained market share since 2020, while other hues like red and blue have been holding on for dear life after steadily losing market share since 2005.
Sports Cars & The Enthusiast Perspective
Breaking the mold are sports cars, which only saw grayscale colors gaining a 4.3 percent market share since 2004. Despite this, white and gray saw the most significant jumps in the sports car realm, while blue and orange gained traction over red.
“I think sports car buyers are reacting to the ‘graying’ of mainstream cars by picking ever more creative colors,” Brauer said. “Even red is a somewhat stereotypical color for a sports car, but blue and orange seem a bit more exotic.”
It’s not unusual to find posters of brightly colored sports cars in an enthusiast’s garage, at their office, or as wallpaper on their phone. Some schools of thought even say that your chosen vehicle color is an extension of your personality.
As a wide-eyed teenager, yours truly spent countless afternoons gawking at posters of yellow Corvettes, red Lancer Evos, blue STIs, and purple Diablos on my bedroom walls. The car bug has bitten me harder than any teenage dream ever could. Even in my adult years, I still have steel blue Bugattis, red Aston Martins, and lemon yellow Lamborghinis as rotating wallpapers on my 14-year-old laptop.
“I also think the growing popularity of McLaren sports cars are helping orange grow in the sports car segment,” Brauer added. “That’s sort of the official McLaren shade.”
Alvin Reyes is an Automoblog feature columnist and an expert in sports and performance cars. He studied civil aviation, aeronautics, and accountancy in his younger years and is still very much smitten to his former Lancer GSR and Galant SS. He also likes fried chicken, music, and herbal medicine.
