Car colours: the shift to white
There seems to be a worldwide shift to white from silver as the most popular choice for a car’s colour. According to DuPont’s survey last year, white and pearl white narrowly took the top spot in colour choices in North America, is the leader by a large margin in Mexico. Car manufacturers such as BMW have noticed this shift towards white in North America, and have been styling their concept and show cars in white. This was what lead to that incident where Chris Bangle said BMW were displaying a “axis of white power”, which many interpreted to be a racist statement, which he clarified later.
“Our customers are looking at niche colors and effects, including matte finishes and warm neutrals with effect. The rise in popularity of white/white pearl and the long reign of silver suggest that we can expect a more dramatic shift in the top color choice,” says Karen Surcina, color marketing and technology manager - DuPont Automotive Systems.
“We are not surprised to see a proliferation of white/white pearl in DuPonts report this year. (this was said back in 2007) It follows the global trends in home furnishings, fashion, consumer products (iPod, Macbook?) and industrial design where were seeing a return to white as a clarifying agent before change, a color of purity and minimalism. White also is considered a fashion statement. The car you drive is a fashion statement, and consumer preferences for white agree. White pearl itself is a combination of many colors, allowing an ability to change, reflecting, in effect, layers of white,” says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute.
The opposite is happening in Japan. White has been the choice of colour in Japan for the longest time. It’s quite monotonous to see endless seas of white cars in the city or on highways, as what I’ve observed when I was in Tokyo in October last year. But these are mostly older cars back from the 90s - the modern cars there are slowly beginning to take on non-white shades, with black and silver slowly overtaking white in terms of new car colour percentages, though white still maintains a strong foothold.
Perhaps the Japanese desire for individuality is finally creeping into colour choices, or it could be a result of a shift to more smaller cars being purchased, which are marketed with fun colours.
If you look around, white doesn’t seem to be very popular in Malaysia, and in many instances if you see a white car it’s most likely to be a police car. But we can see many opting for white with the latest generation Toyota Camry, a sign that Malaysians are also shifting towards white?
Look after the jump for a promo video featuring a white BMW M3.
VIDEO: White BMW M3 Promo Video - More BMW M3 videos
May 29, 2008 @ 3:28 am
I’d want a white BMW M5.
May 29, 2008 @ 7:11 am
The most versatile colour of all time are white and red. Although white and black is not a hue actually.
May 29, 2008 @ 8:23 am
Jeremy Clarkson on one of TG show did mentioned that white will be the popular choice for a car’s colour. That was way back in 2007. Good prophecies, that old bugger.
May 29, 2008 @ 8:56 am
yea, white rules nowaday. Even modded cars are painted white, with, of course, black engine bonnet (carbon fibre imitation).
I abandon my plan to paint my car to white, maybe stick to dark grey metallic.
May 29, 2008 @ 9:21 am
Paul, check out the no. of white myvi on the road now
May 29, 2008 @ 10:03 am
its more common for modded cars to be in white.. and i think their colour trends do not match “mass market” colour choices which this article is talking about.
an explanation could be because race cars are generally finished in white from the start.. its a good base to design graphics for it.
bmw motorsport cars are finished in white, likewise honda type R cars.. same goes for mitsubishi RS models etc.
May 29, 2008 @ 11:16 am
Once you go black you never go back
May 29, 2008 @ 11:26 am
Some white car will turn CREAM color after driven in road for a few year due to UV effect. Also, white is not practical when it comes to dirt and troad grime, etc.
May 29, 2008 @ 1:18 pm
i think metallic grey will increase in popularity for private buyers. it doesnt shout “Look at me!” but more like “thats right, take another look”.white will remain popular for modded and rental cars because it marks them out as a rental or modded. though black is classy it doesnt make the shape of the car stand out. problably marks you out as a gangster if ur in a black merc.
white is pretty bad for tar. esp when the tar color can eat into the white.
May 29, 2008 @ 1:23 pm
its cool to drive a white M6 Cabriolet, CLS or even a Gallardo…… but taking care of car with white paint is troublesome….
May 29, 2008 @ 2:23 pm
You’d not worry for grime or dirt or TAR if you take lovable ar for your ride
May 29, 2008 @ 4:40 pm
White would look nice on full size exec.cars like S class & 7 series;but for fun&sporty cars like 350z and 3 series I think there are better colors..
May 29, 2008 @ 5:17 pm
frossonice said,
May 29, 2008 @ 8:23 am
Jeremy Clarkson on one of TG show did mentioned that white will be the popular choice for a car’s colour. That was way back in 2007. Good prophecies, that old bugger.
>>>>> Yea, it was in his interview with Billie Piper. Dam good prophecy indeed, although I noticed it first when I saw photos of solid white Golf GTi mk5 and solid red Golf GTi, and thought “hey, it looks better in white than in red.”
Also, I noticed it when the facelifted Alfadana was the first Proton to come with iridescent white colour.
Ultimately, I felt Steve Jobs is one to be thanked most for making white becoming the new “black”. Say whatever abt his products, it will still be cool and trendy, period.
May 29, 2008 @ 8:23 pm
Malaysia does not work cause we got all dust around and non tarmac roads. Go to Kampung area, come out your car will turn brown, or go to felda area, your car will come out red. In town, the car turns grey. Maybe its an ipod thing? white=ipod , so white car?
May 29, 2008 @ 9:23 pm
champion white!
May 30, 2008 @ 12:17 am
well, it is a nice colour but imagine the amount of work you have to put in to maintain the car. little bits of mud, dust or show up easily. same problem with black.
but if you’re those that washes car frequently, it should be no problem.
white is the new black.
May 30, 2008 @ 12:28 pm
For someone who is too lazy to wash his car & on average only send it to car wash once a month..hehehehe..black/white is definately not suitable for me…..
silver/beige/grey will be suitable coz u can’t see the dirts & grime……would need to wash my ride more frequently if intend to choose white/black