White was once again the most popular car color option in the world this year, but some interesting trends are developing in the paint department.
Though neutral colors like white, black, gray and silver still dominate the auto word, the once unpopular brown is on the rise, according to car coatings manufacturer PPG.
The manufacturer cited the types of vehicles being sold when asked why brown is becoming more popular. Car shoppers are becoming more concerned with what is inside the vehicle they purchase than what the vehicle looks like or their overall mood, said Jane Harrington, PPG's manager of automotive color and styling to CNN.
White, black, gray and silver are usually at the top of the color list because they're available almost every new car and truck model offered today.
"Our information is a survey of 2014 vehicle build data. Currently, many vehicle segments offer a silver and gray in their color palette of 8-10 options," said Harrington in a statement to AutoWorldNews. "In the 2000-2010 decade- silver was viewed as kind of a futuristic high tech option. In 2011-2014 we are seeing white take that spot."
Harrington said that buyers are more likely to choose a "safe" option, or one that they don't need to have special ordered, so that they can spend more time thinking about what kind of features they want with their car.
Almost a quarter of new vehicles built in North America in 2014 were white, according to PPG.
It seems like blue could be the next color to crack the top three, however, maybe as early as 2015.
"Looking again at vehicle segments blue could be the next in line," Harrington said to AutoWorldNews. "Blue is a color we see trending in many consumer markets and there are many shades of blue that are acceptable on vehicles- light silvery blues, bright intense metallic tones and deep jewel tone navy blues. At two of the recent autoshows ( Detroit January/2014 and Los Angeles November/ 2014 ) Blue was the featured hue of many of the new car 'Reveals""
In 2013, silver and black tied for second in PPG Industries' annual report on car color trends. This year, silver and gray both came in at third place.
Silver claimed the top spot for a decade from 2000 to 2010, though its popularity has settled down the past four years.
White was the most popular car color in the North America, Europe and Asia Pacific markets, PPG confirmed. Silver and white shared the top spot in South America, as each held 32 percent of the market.
Harrington said that her team works three years ahead to make new car colors for vehicle manufactures. For example, they've introduced 63 shades for 2017-18 vehicles, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
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