Automotive OEM Coatings
March 2014 www.coatingsworld.com Coatings World | 67
forecast of four color megatrends for automotive designers around the world.
2013 World Color Highlights
White strengthened its position as the most
popular automotive color among consumers worldwide in 2013, growing in popularity
by six percentage points over the prior year.
Within the white space, 22 percent of vehicles
were solid white and seven percent were pearl
white. Black was the second most popular color globally, with 20 percent of sales, but effect
black was preferred more than solid black. Silver at 15 percent and gray at 12 percent waned
in popularity, while red held steady at eight
percent. Blue and brown/beige spaces each
held five percent of the global market. The remaining color choices revealed low popularity
for green, orange, purples and other spaces,
although there was a small increase in the
yellow/gold area. Overall, neutral colors have
been widely popular over the last decade and
make up 76 percent of today’s vehicles.
North America
• At 26 percent, white continued to in-
crease in popularity and remained the
most popular color choice for the sev-
enth consecutive year.
• At 20 percent, black also increased in
popularity as consumers gravitated
toward black effects in the luxury and
luxury SUV segments.
• Silver has continued its slow decline
along with gray.
• The two most popular chromatic colors choices are red at nine percent and
blue at seven percent.
• Mexico prefers the lighter neutrals with
white at 32 percent and silver at 18 percent.
• Black falls third at 17 percent in Mexico.
• Other colors in Mexico fall in line with
the overall North American trends.
Europe
• Preference for white increased five per-
cent in 2013 to capture 29 percent of
new car sales with solid white being the
most popular variant.
• At 21 percent, black was the second
most preferred color, but decreased in
popularity compared to 2012.
•Interest in gray and silver waned in
• Blue decreased slightly and red slightly in-
creased to bring both to seven percent levels.
Asia
• In Asia, neutrals reached 75 percent of
the market, a two percentage point in-
crease over 2012, still short of 2001 lev-
els when neutrals made up 86 percent
of the palette. Red was the most popu-
lar non-neutral color used on vehicles.
• Japan continued to report white as the
most popular color for the seventh year
in a row, followed by black and silver.
Gray’s popularity at seven percent was
low compared to other world trends.
Blue was the most colorful choice at
seven percent of the market.
•In China, black continued to remain
strong, especially on luxury vehicles.
However, interest in white increased
in line with its overall global popularity. Blue, green and yellow were low in
popularity compared to colorful reds
and browns.
•In South Korea, white remained the
number one preference at 32 percent
of the market. Silver was a distant second at 18 percent. Gray held third place
followed by black as the lighter color
spaces dominated the market.
• Silver remained the most popular color
in India at 30 percent. White was a close
second at 28 percent, as these light colors proved to be popular in the warm
climate. Browns/beiges were popular
at 10 percent but darker colors like
black received little interest, holding
only seven percent of the market.
South America
• At 29 percent, white eclipsed silver to
take the top spot for the first time since
2001, followed closely by black at 14
percent.
• Gray and red followed in popularity at
nine percent each. Red remained the
fifth most popular color since 2002.
• The prevalence of brown/beige, blue
and green colors slightly increased.
Other countries and regions
• In Russia, white held the top color space
at 18 percent. In contrast to other coun-
tries, green was quite popular in Russia
with eight percent of the market.
•Light color spaces dominated Africa
with white, silver, and gray at the top.
White had a strong lead at 43 percent.
Red was the most popular non-neutral
colorful preference at six percent, followed by blue at four percent. •
