The release of PPG’s latest Automotive Colour Popularity Report shows that blue hues continue to grow, while white remains the dominant global choice.
Sales of new cars featuring blue paintwork climbed to a 9% global colour share, according to PPG’s just released 2020 Automotive Colour Popularity Report. Representing a 1% increase on 2019, it reinforces PPG forecasting that anticipated vehicle buyers choosing blue would increase over the next four years. PPG experts believe the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to further fuel global preference for the colour, says Misty Yeomans, PPG Colour Styling Manager, Americas.
“COVID-19 has consumers focusing on their desires and priorities. Blue is an optimistic, comforting colour that conveys trust, dependability, confidence, healing and hope. It’s also associated with nature, cleanliness and future-forward technology.” As the movement toward blue continues, the colour is expected to emerge in more vivid or desaturated shades, deep-sea luxury tones and hues with a slight turquoise influence.
“Digital-inspired aqua-blues combine versatility with a sense of youthfulness and a fresh spirit. The emergence of the electric vehicle market also will drive growth in vibrant tones and interesting effects, such as colour-shifting colours. We’re also seeing blue used more extensively in trim lines, logos and other accessorizing applications," Yeomans said.
Consumer demand and the need to accommodate autonomous driving technologies is credited with helping white remain the world’s most popular automotive colour. According to PPG’s report, despite preferences for white tones falling 1% from 2019, solid and metallic shades still claimed 34% of the cars purchased worldwide in 2020. This was led by the Asia-Pacific region with 41% – a rise of 1% over 2019. White colours reflect consumers’ desire for refined simplicity and versatility in turbulent times, Yeomans said.
“In addition to the pearl and metallic whites that are already widely popular, we anticipate a new dimension of white stylings in the automotive market that create a warm, sophisticated feel, such as creamy shades of ivory or bone-coloured tints and ceramic effects. White colours are also highly compatible with emerging radar and LiDAR technologies that enable self-driving vehicles.” Click here for full details on PPG’s automotive colour popularity report.