By Jeff Sanford
Toronto, Ontario — November 19, 2015 — Axalta has released its latest Global Automotive Colour Popularity Report has been released. You might want to ask your jobber to stock up on white, which continues to increase in popularity. White overtook silver in 2011 as the world’s most popular car colour. For whatever reason the blanc shade “has continued to gain in popularity on all vehicle types,” according to Axalta.
Axalta has been releasing the survey yearly since 1953. “Axalta’s colour popularity data has been an important tool in partnering with vehicle manufacturers to forecast the designs and colour preference that will engage customers in the years to come,’ said Nancy Lockhart, Colour Marketing Manager for Axalta in North America. “For the fifth consecutive year, white is the world’s most popular colour. However, we did see some pockets of colour when we looked across regions. For instance, red jumped eight percentage points over 2014 in South America, mid-shade blues are significant in Europe and bright blues gained popularity in North America.”
Breaking out the results Axalta found that on a global level:
– Silver levelled out after declining for four years and remains at 13 per cent.
– Blue remained steady over 2014, while other rich colours declined.
When it came to North America, the report finds:
-No region likes red more than NA, with 11 percent of cars coming in this shade. Axalta’s 2015 North America Automotive Colour of the Year, Radiant Red, reflects this preference.
– Blue increased in popularity to a total of eight percent of sales.
In South America:
– White is the region’s most popular colour; no colour in any region is more popular than white is in South America.
– Silver is the second-most popular.
In Europe:
– The continent shows the highest amount of blue at nine per cent with much interest in sporty mid-shade blues.
– Holding 21 percent of the market, no region likes black more. Of interest are the luxurious sparkling black shades for intermediate and large cars.
Asia:
– The region experienced a 10 percent year-over-year drop for grey.
– In China alone, white gained in popularity by 19 percentage points.
According to Lockhart, automotive colour popularity provides a valuable look back at how consumer colour preferences changed over time. “Axalta’s colour trend forecasting team researches the expected colour preferences of tomorrow,” said Lockhart. “The next generation of global automotive colours will offer a variety of colours with highly chromatic bright reds, rich blues and vibrant violets. Niche colours are forecasted on small cars in unique shades of pale blue, green and gold. Warm hues are gaining popularity in earthy tones of green, bronze, red and beige. Finally, cool shades are holding interest in white, grey and black.”
