The Monetary Value of Color
So, you might ask, "Why does color matter?" Like many vehicle features, color plays a role in the residual value of your car. Put simply, today's popular color will probably make your vehicle more popular to a buyer five years from now. The "probably" factors in the cyclical nature of color popularity, but the general rule still holds true.
It also follows that less popular colors depreciate your vehicle's value. By how much, you ask? That's the tricky part. It actually can vary from hundreds to thousands of dollars depending on the vehicle and the color in question.
Sticking to neutral colors such as silver, white, black and gray are your safest bets. But, if you feel moved to more chromatic colors, bright yellow, orange, or purple vehicles could put you at a disadvantage when selling or trading in your vehicle.
A study by the Yankelovich Partners found 39 percent of consumers were likely to change brands if they couldn't get the color they wanted—another example of the power of color.
Top Three Overall Colors
Looking at the top overall popular colors in the U.S., for all vehicle categories, silver leads the way with white in close second, followed by black.
- Silver - 23%
- White - 15%
- Black - 12%
Popular Colors for SUV/Minivans/Light Trucks
SUVs, Minivans and Light Trucks, which make up 50.9% of the new vehicle market, are unique from all other categories in that white is the preferred color for these vehicles. This has been the case for more than 10 years. Silver and black round out the top three color choices and medium/dark gray advanced 5% last year to take fifth place.
- White - 19.3%
- Silver - 18%
- Black - 12.4%
- Med. Dark Blue - 11.4%
- Med. Dark Gray - 7.5%
- Med. Red - 7.1%
- Med. Dark Green - 6.7%
- Light Brown - 5.1%
- Bright Red - 4.5%
- Gold - 1.8%
Popular Colors for Luxury
Silver is the main color of choice for Luxury vehicles, which make up 8.6% of the car market. Silver rose nearly 14% in one year's time in this category resulting in a whopping one-third of all Luxury vehicles sporting silver tones. Two variations of white made up another 30% of this category, leaving the remaining colors to round out the mix. An interesting observation is that black, which was once the premier color for luxury vehicles, has hit its lowest mark in years at 8.5%.
- Silver - 32.1%
- White Metallic - 17.7%
- White - 11.8%
- Med/Dk. Blue 8.6%
- Black - 8.5%
- Med./Dk. Gray 7.2%
- Med. Red - 6%
- Gold - 3%
- Med/Dk Green - 1.8%
- Light Brown - 1.7%