When buying a car, one of the aspects that most people take into account is the color of the vehicle. The choice of car shade is not only an aesthetic issue, but can also reflect the owner’s personality and affect various practical aspects. There are colors that stand out more from a distance and others that do not absorb solar radiation as much, which should be considered depending on the use of the car.
In Spain, there are more than 33 million vehicles registered, according to data from Unespa, the insurance company association. Most are monochromatic colors and more specifically three different colors: gray, white and black. This is what a study carried out by carVertical, a company dedicated to providing vehicle history reports, reveals, which has revealed the preferences of Spaniards when choosing the color of their car.
The report highlights that 28.7% of all cars reviewed on carVertical are gray, 27% white and 26.5% black. That is, more than 80% of the vehicles that circulate on Spanish roads are one of those three colors, a trend that according to the authors of the study is also repeated in other countries. According to the report, gray, black and white are the most practical colors, easier to maintain and require less attention.
In the last 20 years, the color white has acquired notable notoriety in the Spanish park. If in 2001, the percentage of white cars was 8.6%, in 2010 they already represented 23.6% of the total and in 2020, 53%. On the other hand, the preference for the color gray has decreased significantly, going from 54.3% in 2001 to 28.7% today. Even so, gray cars are the majority in our country.
“Monochromatic colors are here to stay. White, silver, gray and black are trending all over the world. Likewise, blue vehicles will be a popular choice in 2024, while the rest of the colors will be overtaken by conservative alternatives,” says Matas Buzelis, communications manager at carVertical.
Drivers prefer to avoid bright colors as there is a chance that they will fade over the years and become more difficult to sell in the future, the report highlights. In fact, bright colors do not have a significant presence in the used vehicle market. The color yellow represents 0.2% of all vehicles reviewed by carVertical, while red represents 11% and blue 4%.
Now, while yellow was never a popular choice, the proportion of red vehicles has fluctuated over the years and has always had a stable base. Normally the color red is associated with sports vehicles. On the other hand, it can be said that blue was a little more popular decades ago than it is today, reaching a total of 11.4% of the Spanish park in 2001.
The predominance of colors such as grey, white and black in most cars in Spain is attributed, according to Matas Buzelis, to the reduction in color options that manufacturers offer buyers. “A couple of decades ago we saw many colorful vehicles, but now the shades have changed a lot, since the majority do not want to stand out from the crowd and choose conservative vehicles.”
Darker shades are often used in high-end vehicles. Only some drivers prefer the color black, as it attracts heat, so in southern European countries it is a factor that motorists take into account when purchasing a vehicle. Additionally, dust and dirt is more noticeable on black painted bodies.