The automotive world got a little more colorful in 2020
Cars were dipped in more, brighter colors last year than previously, according to BASF, but that didn't stop North America from being very blue.
Violet colors are still rare, but climbing in popularity.
For too long we've lived in a world of staid, boring cars. Well, boring car colors, anyway. That's slowly changing, according to BASF, which on Thursday dropped its annual Color Report. According to the company, which supplies paints to many of the world's leading auto manufacturers, 2020 featured a broader spectrum of colors on display than we saw in 2019.
What sorts of shades? When it comes to actual colors, blue is the leading choice for much of the world, including Europe, the Middle East, Africa (EMEA) and North America. 11% of new cars in EMEA were dunked in blue, 13% here in North America.
Where do you stand in the global car color stakes?
Violet crept onto the EMEA leaderboard this year with a scant 1% of cars sold. Similarly, 1% of cars sold in North America were green last year, while boring beige and brown thankfully fell off the list entirely.
It's not all positive news, though. I'm sorry to report that boring hues still rule the roost. The most popular paint selection globally was white, making up a whopping 48% of cars in the Asia Pacific region and a too-large 29% in North America. Surely fleets of cloud cars at rental agencies and the like make up for a good percentage of that, but still, if you're shopping for a new car in 2021, do your part to push that spectrum a little more generously. Only by working together can we all make global traffic a little more interesting. To look at, anyway.
