Even more gray, white and black on cars worldwide

As a color enthusiast, you’ll have to look hard to see the positive news in BASF’s latest annual automotive paint report, brought to our attention by The Autopian. The shares of achromatic colors, here divided into white, black, gray and silver, are almost all growing compared to last year. White went from 37 to 39 percent (!) of the total in 2022, making it by far the most popular car ‘color’ worldwide. Black gained one percentage point for a total of 18 percent. Gray is also slightly more popular than before at 16 percent, while silver managed to retain its share of 8 percent.

In total, these shades of gray account for no less than 81 percent of the total, more than three-quarters of all new cars. In 2021 that was still 77 percent. Please note: this study concerns ‘non-commercial vehicles’. All the white and gray vans and trucks you see along the way don’t even count.

Greater variety

The total share of real colors such as red, blue and green has shrunk from 23 to 19 percent of the total. Nevertheless, BASF sees a bright spot, because the more creative colors in this category are gaining somewhat in popularity. Furthermore, the range of different colors has grown somewhat according to the German paint mixers. This is not fully reflected in the graph, although we do see ‘violet’ appearing for the first time. According to BASF, yellow, orange and green are also gaining popularity, although in all those cases it remains at a rounded share of 1 percent. Of the real colors, blue and red remain the most popular by some distance, although both lose a percentage point.

Regional

The color report distinguishes between different world regions. For example, we see that white in the EMEA region, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, gained quite a bit of popularity (from 26 to 29 percent), at the expense of gray. Black, on the other hand, became somewhat more popular and, just like gray, now accounts for 19 percent of the total. Silver also seems to be making a small comeback ‘with us’ and rises from 9 to 10 percent. The only region where grayscale as a whole lost some popularity is North America. BASF also notes that there is a greater search for creative solutions within the various colours. For example, variations on gray tones, for example with a touch of blue or purple and/or a matte finish, are on the rise.

When it comes to eye-catching car colours, there are apparently more proponents in theory than in practice. How about you? Did you put your money where your mouth is by ordering a brightly colored car, or did you honestly say that you prefer black, white or gray? Let us know in the comments!