Colorful cars are becoming an ‘endangered species:’ Study

(NewsNation) — When it comes to their cars, more consumers are going gray, and now, roads are half as colorful as they were twenty years ago.

Grayscale colors like white, black, gray and silver make up 80% of cars today, up from 60% in 2004, according to a recent analysis by iSeeCars.com.

The drop comes despite the fact manufacturers are offering nearly the same number of colors, an average of 6.7 colors per model today compared to 7.1 colors per model 20 years ago, the study found.

“Colorful cars appear to be an endangered species,” Karl Brauer, iSeeCars executive analyst, said in a statement. “They’ve lost half their market share over the past 20 years, and they could become even rarer in another 20 years.”

Since 2004, colors like gold (-97%), green (-51%), red (-38%) and blue (-18%) have seen their market share drop. Meanwhile, gray (+82%), white (+77%) and black (+57%) cars have become significantly more popular.

There are a few explanations for the trend. Dealers are in the business of selling cars, so it’s in their best interest to order popular options. Consumers may also lean toward those colors to preserve the car’s resale value in the future.

There’s also the issue of cost. Grayscale colors are cheaper for automakers and tend to be the default, lowest-price option. A Tesla Model Y in “ultra red” will set you back an extra $2,000 compared to the “stealth grey” base model.

Today, white is the most dominant car color with 28% market share, up from 12% twenty years ago. The report noted that much of that increase is due to the color’s popularity in rental car fleets and other commercial uses.

Black (22%) ranked second, followed by gray (21%). Silver was the fourth most popular at 9%, though it’s fallen out of favor in recent years, down 52% from 2004.

Among colorful cars, blue was the most popular with 9% market share, followed by red (7%) and green (2%).

There is one segment where colors continue to hold their own: sports cars. Non-grayscale colors make up roughly 38% of that category, slightly down from 42% twenty years ago. Green sports cars have seen their popularity skyrocket more than 500% since 2004, rising from 0.5% market share to 3.4%.

The latest report is based on iSeeCars analysis of over 20 million used cars from model years 2004 to 2023 sold from January 2023 to April 2024. 

The top ten most popular car colors by market share, according to iSeeCars.com:

1. White: 28%
2. Black: 22%
3. Gray: 21%
4. Silver: 9%
5. Blue: 9%
6. Red: 7%
7. Green: 2%
8. Orange: 0.5%
9. Beige: 0.5%
10. Brown: 0.4%