Toronto, Ontario — According to a recent study from iSeeCars, only 20 percent of today’s vehicles are in non-greyscale colours, and this is compared to a total of 40 percent of vehicles in 2004.
iSeeCars specifically analyzed the colours of over 20 million used cars from model years 2004 to 2023. Here, the share of each colour within each model year was calculated, as was the difference in share between model years in 2004 and 2023.
The study found that greyscale colours, such as white, black, grey and silver, made up 80 percent of vehicles in 2023 compared to 60 percent in 2004.
Additionally, of all of the greyscale colours, grey has gained the most market share, up 81.9 percent from 2004. This was followed by white at 77.4 percent, while comparatively, silver saw a decrease of 52.2 percent.
The study further noted that many car colours are on the verge of “going extinct,” with certain colours, such as gold and purple down over 90 percent, brown and beige down over 80 percent and yellow down 75.7 percent.
This drop in diversity comes despite nearly the same number of colours being offered in 2023 versus 2004. For instance, in 2023, an average of 6.7 colours are offered per model compared to 7.1 colours offered per model 20 years ago.
“Colourful cars appear to be an endangered species,” said Karl Brauer, iSeeCars Executive Analyst. “Despite a diverse palette being offered by automakers, there are far fewer non-greyscale cars sold today. They’ve lost half their market share over the past 20 years, and they could be even rarer in another 20 years.”
To see iSeeCars’ full report, click here.
