Photo: Jo Stolp from Pixabay
When it comes to car colors, most Americans choose white, black, or anything in between, according to a recent analysis by iSeeCars.com. The study examined over 6.1 million vehicles on the road to determine the prevalence of each color.
There is no love for colorful paint in the U.S. car market, with grayscale-painted cars accounting for 78.5% of all vehicles on the road. White and black are the most popular options by far, with 25.8% and 22.3%, respectively. Gray cars account for 18.4%, almost as popular, while silver slips in fourth with 12.1%.
“White’s popularity can be attributed to it being one of the easiest colors to maintain, and because it is a common color for fleet and rental vehicles, white is prevalent in the used car market,” said Karl Brauer, Executive Analyst for iSeeCars. “Black remains a popular choice for car buyers. [...] Consumers may prefer Gray and Silver because they are practical colors.”
There are only two true colors with a meaningful percentage: blue (9.5%) and red (8.6%). All other options make up less than 3.5% of the vehicles roaming the roads of America, which is a pity. Nevertheless, having a less-popular color can bring advantages regarding resale value. According to iSeeCars, those cars tend to depreciate less precisely because they are scarce in the used-car marketplace.
The dominance of grayscale colors remained constant over the past five years. What has changed is the top preference: in 2017, black was prevalent. Customers were also more open to colorful paints back then, with only 76.2 choosing a grayscale paint in 2017, as opposed to 78.5% in 2022.
The most colorful state in the U.S. is West Virginia, with 28.1% of vehicles painted with non-grayscale paint. Vermont, Wyoming, and Alaska follow, with 27.0%, 26.6%, and 25.8%, respectively. The least colorful state is California, with only 17% of non-grayscale vehicles on the road.
“White’s popularity can be attributed to it being one of the easiest colors to maintain, and because it is a common color for fleet and rental vehicles, white is prevalent in the used car market,” said Karl Brauer, Executive Analyst for iSeeCars. “Black remains a popular choice for car buyers. [...] Consumers may prefer Gray and Silver because they are practical colors.”
There are only two true colors with a meaningful percentage: blue (9.5%) and red (8.6%). All other options make up less than 3.5% of the vehicles roaming the roads of America, which is a pity. Nevertheless, having a less-popular color can bring advantages regarding resale value. According to iSeeCars, those cars tend to depreciate less precisely because they are scarce in the used-car marketplace.
The dominance of grayscale colors remained constant over the past five years. What has changed is the top preference: in 2017, black was prevalent. Customers were also more open to colorful paints back then, with only 76.2 choosing a grayscale paint in 2017, as opposed to 78.5% in 2022.
The most colorful state in the U.S. is West Virginia, with 28.1% of vehicles painted with non-grayscale paint. Vermont, Wyoming, and Alaska follow, with 27.0%, 26.6%, and 25.8%, respectively. The least colorful state is California, with only 17% of non-grayscale vehicles on the road.
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