BERLIN: Brightly painted cars stand out in traffic. One reason is their rarity with shades such as white, grey, and black dominating.
A total 29 % of new cars in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa were painted white in 2022, according to the Global Colour Report by chemical company BASF, followed by black and grey at 19% each. Only around a quarter of all vehicles had a colourful paint finish.
"Grey is the winner globally, offering a lot of different shades," says Mark Gutjahr, a coatings designer and trend researcher at BASF Coatings, one of the market leaders for car paint in Europe.
A lot depends on the vehicle segment, Gutjahr says. "Dark colours such as dark blue, black and grey look particularly elegant on large cars. Very many company vehicles are therefore painted in those colours.”
When it comes to colourful paint, Paolo Tumminelli sees green as a trend colour.
"Even if blue and red are ordered more often, the trend towards green is there,” says the professor of design concepts at Cologne University of Applied Sciences.
Brown is out but beige is in
Brown, on the other hand, a trend colour just a few years ago, is now being ordered less, according to Tumminelli. "Beige, sandy or latte-like colours such as the ‘Caffè Latte’ colour on the Fiat 500, however, continue to be well received,” he says. Matte tones, on the other hand, have not caught on.
According to the design expert, the reason why colourful paints often seem to have a hard time is as follows: "The automobile stands for shininess and wants to shine — the paint, but also components such as the radiator grille or chrome clasps."
Classic noble tones such as grey, dark blue, and black or discreet light colours such as beige go well with this.
A black paint job suits most cars, a garish pink rarely does, Tumminelli says. "But it depends on the environment."
In countries where a Rolls-Royce is rare, and considered luxurious and posh, it's usually ordered in dark colours, he says. "In Arab countries or California, where expensive models are driven more often, there are also more colourful paints.”
Gutjahr believes that what is seen on the roads influences purchasing decisions. Due to the large fleet of company cars, customers usually see achromatic colours such as white, black, and grey — and then opt for those colours themselves when buying a car.
Black cars look evil
However, colourful paints such as orange or red can work well. The colour just has to match the brand and model. And shades that are supposedly out of date, such as green, yellow or light blue, can suddenly look modern again in other nuances.
Looking to the future, Mark Gutjahr still sees white as being at the forefront, but expects a slight decline. Black and grey will also remain popular.
Nevertheless, even if dreary colours will continue to dominate the vehicle market in the coming years, the paint designer sees a trend towards pastel colours such as light yellow, rosé or light green.
In stark contrast to this are the special lines of cars painted black with black trim parts. Tumminelli doesn't think much of it: his opinion is that black cars look aggressive and evil and don't fit into our times, in which the car is the subject of politically contentious debate.
"Evil has never been bright and shiny, good has never been dressed in black. In today's world, cars should rather be painted in a colourful and friendly way,” he says.
Instead, the auto industry responds with larger, heavier, more powerful and darker-coloured vehicles and thus builds up a negative image of the automobile itself, the professor says.
