DuPont Announces World's Most Popular 2009 Car Colors

Silver Gleams in First-Ever DuPont Global Color Rankings for 2009

WILMINGTON, Del., Dec. 1, 2009 – DuPont announced that silver, black and white are the top colors in the first-ever ranking of worldwide vehicle color popularity. Now in its 57th year, the annual DuPont Global Automotive Color Popularity Report is the original and most authoritative source for automotive color popularity information and trends with detailed breakdowns for the top automotive markets as well as this year’s newly announced top global colors.

Top Ten Global Vehicle Colors:

1. Silver – 25 percent
2. Black – 23 percent
3. White – 16 percent
4. Gray – 13 percent
5. Blue – 9 percent
6. Red – 8 percent
7. Brown/Beige – 4 percent
8. Green – 1 percent
9. Yellow/Gold – 1 percent
10. Others – <1 percent

“By gathering and analyzing color popularity data around the globe, DuPont is able to better identify trends and help our customers in the automotive industry develop color palettes for the future,” said Nancy Lockhart, color marketing manager for DuPont OEM Performance Coatings. “The auto industry is an increasingly global business, so regional and global color data are vitally important to designers.”

Although the results suggest an ongoing convergence of color choice globally with color preferences becoming more homogeneous across regions, distinct regional differences remain. The top three colors – black, white and silver – continue to show strongly around the globe with growth of these colors across regions.

“It’s important to recognize that most people today, no matter where they live in the world, have access to cutting-edge information about popular colors from many sources like glossy magazines and fashionable websites and often will see the same widely distributed films,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director, Pantone Color Institute and author of the blog Eisemancolorblog.com. “The top colors become ‘aspirational’ with a universal appeal.”

Changes Across Markets

“There are still distinct regional differences in preference, but global trends are unmistakable,” said Lockhart. “Color preference can change from year to year because of a variety of factors including types of vehicles introduced, reduced vehicle size, consumer tastes and even the economy. These and other cultural, societal and demographic influences can shift regional trends over time.”