Silver Named Most Popular Car Color of 2005

by Christina Medina
ForbesAutos.com


To car buyers, all that glitters doesn’t have to be gold. Silver was named the top-rated vehicle color of choice six years in a row according to a report from DuPont Automotive, followed closely by white.

Medium to dark gray infused with colors like green and blue has increased in popularity this year by 5 percent, while a more vibrant blue greatly appeals to younger auto consumers in 2005.



The most popular color in the U.S. is featured on the fifth most popular vehicle, the 2006 Honda Accord.

Dupont is the world’s leading supplier of automotive color coatings. In the U.S. alone, DuPont’s coatings are featured on eight of the top 10 selling vehicles, like the Honda Accord and Ford F-Series.

“Advances in technology have allowed us to offer a much wider variety of colors and finishes than ever before," said Karen Surcina, marketing and technology manager for DuPont Automotive Systems. "And, in a reverse from the past, the automotive market is inspiring other markets' color choices, especially with its metallic and special effect finishes."

Although some consumers choose silver to maintain a higher resale value, for others the flashy color is an emotional pick.

“There’s always a fascination for anything that has sparkle. The human eye can’t avoid looking at anything that has an undulating surface to it,” said color expert Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. “We want our cars to be the sleekest and fastest we can get and silver puts that out there without us being aware of it.”

"The mind thinks of silver as a precious metal, like gold, but more attainable," she said.



In the U.S., the color blue has significant gains this year in the luxury, intermediate and compact/sport vehicle categories.

“A car purchase is a very emotional purchase,” Eiseman said. “It’s something that is very important, not only status-wise, but it’s a way to get us from one place to another. It’s a way of escape. Blue is really a classic color to American consumers in particular. It’s something that will never go away. We know that people are opting to go back to feeling more secure and blue has even more popularity during times of anxiety.”

In the next three years, DuPont predicts more automotive colors will be infused with tints of others, while distinctive colors like yellow and orange will become more prominent.

Silver can look very good to very drab depending on the paint and car. GM's Galaxy Silver Metallic looks good on so many vehicles.

I always liked the beautiful silver on Porsches...such depth.

In the U.S., the color blue has significant gains this year in the luxury, intermediate and compact/sport vehicle categories.

I bet they sell lots of blue Cobalts.

I love silver on most classiscs because it's differet but 90% of the time hate it on most newer cars beacuse it's so predictable. Wouldn'y mind having a '59 Pontiac in Silver but I'd rather have puke green on a brand new Audi, Mercedes or Crhysler 300... evryone and their brother has silver on those cars. This has been a flip flop between the platinum/pewters and silver for the better part fo a decade.