Axalta’s report shows an increase in blue vehicles and a decline in white ones, with grey hues still popular.
The global supplier of liquid and powder coating Axalta has released the 69th annual Global Automotive Color Popularity Report, revealing that the majority of cars in the streets are white (35%), black (19%) and grey (19%). The report has been tabulated on Axalta's analysis of 2021 automotive build data in major markets.
White cars have been the most used cars on the road since 2011, with Asia being the main manufacturer. Their popularity peaked in 2017 with 39%, but it has witnessed a decline in several region since then. As a matter of fact, in 2021 it has declined by three percentage points (7 in China).
Grey shades, on the other hand, continue to gain popularity (+4% worldwide) especially in Europe, where grey is the most popular colour for the third year in a row (27%) followed by black (22%), that leads the luxury market. In South America silver is the most popular one (27%), while North America is the region with the highest amount of new red cars. Finally, blue hues showed a 1% increase worldwide.
Axalta has been reporting on coatings colour for the automotive industry since 1953 and it publishes colour trends, preferences and forecasts reports annually.