Keeping the car clean and shiny as the first day means for its owner to dedicate part of his free time to take care of it. In order for the bodywork to look as if the car just left the dealership and the cabin to be spotless, it is necessary to clean the car regularly. The most common thing is to go to an automated washing center, but there is also the possibility of washing it by hand as long as it is not done on public roads because it is prohibited and you can get a fine.
Both options require spending a few minutes that not all drivers have. When this happens, the car accumulates dirt over time. Dust and other environmental factors are responsible for this loss of shine which, depending on the color of the car, will be noticeable to a greater or lesser extent.
The color of the car not only serves to make us more visible on the road -the lighter it is, the more other drivers see us-, but it also helps to more or less hide dirt and scratches. The RACE points out in its blog that the white color and the brighter colors will make dirt and scratches on the body more unnoticed. On the other hand, black is the color that hides dirt and exterior damage with less success.
Whether due to the ease of camouflaging dust or not, the white color is still preferred by car owners when they decide to change their car. The Axalta Global Color Popularity Report confirms in its latest 2022 edition that white is the preferred automotive color worldwide. A trend that has been going on since 2011.
34% of drivers around the world who bought a new car last year opted for the color white. The other colors preferred by motorists were black (21%) and gray (19%), which clearly distance themselves from their closest competitors, silver and blue, both with 8% of total units.
Red (5%), brown/beige (2%), as well as green, yellow/gold and others, each with 1%, complete the range of preferred colors.
The Axalta report also takes into account the choice by continents and certain countries. Thus, in North America (30%), South America (39%), Africa (39%) and Asia (40%), white led the ranking of best-selling colors. This trend was maintained in the four countries the study specifically cites. In both Japan (38%) and China (43%), South Korea (34%) and India (35%), white cars were the most popular.
In Europe, however, the most chosen car color in 2022 was gray (27%), followed by black (22%). The color white dropped to third place in the preferences of motorists across the continent (21%), ahead of blue (11%) and silver (9%). 5% of the cars that were sold were red; 2% brown/beige; and 1% green, yellow/gold and other colors.
The study reveals that the color changes depending on the type of car. In Europe, for example, gray was the hue preferred by buyers of compact (30%) and mid-range (33%) cars. On the other hand, those who bought an SUV opted mostly for white (30%) and those who bought a sedan or a luxury SUV did so for black (37%).
