- Posted on Friday, March 9th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
What Does Your Car Color Say About You?
By Amy DeLong
Training/Communications Coordinator
So, maybe Kermit the Frog was right when he sang, “it’s not easy being green.” According to DuPont Automotive rankings of the most popular automotive colors in North America, green ranks below 4 percent. As I look through the other findings, it appears things aren’t any better for green across the entire globe. Whether bright lime or more traditional pine, this color comes up, well, green with envy toward almost all other colors offered.
For eight years, silver has claimed the No. 1 spot in the popularity studies followed by white and black and recently, shades of grey. I have to admit, during that time, only one of the vehicles in our driveway has strayed from the top three and we certainly didn’t stray far. Last year, my husband opted for stealth gray metallic which has a blue tone to it. He likes it because it’s different but not over the top which certainly fits with his character. He’s a trendy guy but is fairly understated, especially when it comes to color.
DuPont’s findings also show that silver continues to decline in popularity as we move toward a “fuller palette of true, high-chroma colors.” Attention-grabbing colors, such as red and orange, are moving up the ranks. Today’s consumers are looking for true color in almost everything they purchase. Think about the ads you might see for cell phones or stand mixers. Your mother’s standard stainless or white model is almost passé next to today’s offerings of green apple, tangerine or citron. The same holds true for our appetite for vehicle colors. Fashion trends also impact vehicle color trends.
GM’s own market research in the luxury segment shows that regardless of color, customers expect the following attributes:
- Depth of color
- High gloss
- Consistent and even color
- Smooth surface
GM’s Global Paint & Polymer Center ensures that best practices are used worldwide to achieve these results.
I found an interesting post on Carlist.com recently. In an excerpt from the article on car colors, Car Answer Book author Leatrice Eiseman says vehicle color reveals a lot about an owner’s personality. See if you agree with what she claims your vehicle says about you:
- Silver — Elegant, loves futuristic looks, cool
- White — Fastidious
- Vibrant Red — Sexy, speedy, high-energy and dynamic
- Deep Blue-Red — Some of the same qualities as red, but far less obvious about it
- Taupe / Light Brown — Timeless, basic and simple tastes
- Black — Empowered, not easily manipulated, loves elegance, appreciates classics
- Neutral Gray — Sober, corporate, practical, pragmatic
- Dark Green — Traditional, trustworthy, well-balanced
- Bright Yellow-Green — Trendy, whimsical, lively
- Yellow Gold — Intelligent, warm, loves comfort and will pay for it
- Sunshine Yellow — Sunny disposition, joyful and young at heart
- Deep Brown — Down-to-earth, no-nonsense
- Orange — Fun loving, talkative, fickle and trendy
- Deep Purple — Creative, individualistic
I like that my black Saturn VUE sends out the impression that I am empowered. At the same time, I appreciate that Paint & Polymers engineers work closely with designers to ensure GM offers high quality finishes in other options. My next purchase may have me punch up the color a bit. Who knows. Maybe I’ll help old Kermit change his tune about green.
7 Comments
Jason Zebersky
What about BLUE!
I miss that light metalic blue that was almost everywhare from the 1960’s through the 80’s.
I have a Navy Blue (corsair color) Saturn Sl 1997 Looks sharp and expensive like my Mother’s like colored 250 SEL Mercedies Benz, she had when I was a kid. It’s hard to keep dark colors looking clean,and they show scratches most easaly.
I allso have a champign gold Cadillac DeVille 1996, it too looks rich; as a Cadillac should, but as I bought it pre owned I could’nt choose the color: I would have chosen a darker color for a more formal look, this car looks like a limo.
Jason Zebersky
Jason Zebersky
Oh yeah,
When I finally trade in my daily driver Blue Saturn, I was thinking about a Sunbust Orange Cobalt SS sedan, I saw one at my local Chevrolet dealer and it looks tres bichin! It would be nice to get it with a dark colored interior, though: the one I saw had a light colored cloth.
Jason Zebersky
Creed Crutchfield
Never underestimate the American Public. Silver is popular because its easy to clean, it looks razor sharp on the new Egg shaped cars with wheels (*cough*GTO) and its typically American. It looks good when dirty, its easy to maintain, you can’t see scratches… Basically, its a lazy color and most of us love it anyway. I had a Jeep Rubicon just for this purpose. Silver just has a bright airy feel and it looks GREAT with black.
Personally, my favorites are Teals,blues, and Reds that aren’t too orange and aren’t too crimson. The best red in the world is Gaurds Red by Porsche. Second best is Corvette’s Red, whatever they call it this year…Doesn’t it change every week at this point?
Its funny to see GM talk about color when most models only offer 6 color choices and most of them are as boring as a Campfire with no logs.
Once again: Get it together GM, you’re losing me here.
C3
Greg
When I bought my 2004 Pontiac GTO, I made my dealer look high and wide to find one in Cosmos Purple with the manual transmission.
While I love the exterior color, it was the purple leather interior that really sold me on the car. It was unique and different and 2004 was the only model year this combination was offered.
Frankly, I think GM has gotten a little staid on it’s exterior color choices over the past few years, and the basic interior color choices have been narrowed down to gray/black or tan/beige. Very boring.
It’s time to give customer’s more choice in interior trim again!
Greg
Robert
Same with my 2004 Impulse Blue GTO. I love the exterior deep medium metallic blue color (lots of compliments as if I created it myself, but thanks) and the blue leather interior with black and silver dash just really catches the eye.
Drex
So what does it mean when you really wanted dark green or dark red, but ended up in dark gray because either the interior color you wanted wasn’t available in dark green (at the time) or dark red wasn’t an option?
Jeff Lariviere
Interesting to watch a movie from the 70’s or 60’s with a lot of cars in it. Movies with NYC locations are good for this… the cars looks so bland and colorless compared to today. Lots of white, brown, pale green and pale blue, beige. Of course, paint technology has come a long way. Tastes are, at least in part, driven by the choices available. (hi, Jason
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