Top 10 Most Popular New Car Colours of 2017

Published Date: 16th Jan 2018

Surprisingly, black was the most popular new car colour of 2017 here in the UK. 

According to the SMMT, more than half a million black cars which accounts for 20.3% of all new sales were sold in 2017.

This is a complete flip as White was the most popular colour in 2016, but has recently dipped to third place with 19% of sales, with grey now in second place.

The fastest growing new car colour of 2017 was gold, demand was up 19.1%, although it did remain a rare choice with just 0.2% of the market share.

2017 was a great year for alternatively fueled vehicles, but diesels did suffer quite a substantial decrease.

Regionally, buyers in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales bucked the overall national trend, with white remaining their firm favourite. Meanwhile, blue was more popular in Northern Ireland and Wales, ranking third most preferred choice.

In a North/South divide, motorists in the North of England opted for white as their number one colour, 2 whereas those in the South preferred black. The West Midlands and East Midlands were also divided, with black coming out on top in the West and grey in the East.

 

1. Black (20.3%)

 

2. Grey (19.7%)

 

3. White (19%)

 

4. Blue (16%)

 

5. Silver (10.0%)

 

6. Red (9.9%)

 

7. Green (1.1%)

 

8. Orange (0.8%)

 

9. Bronze (0.5%)

 

10. Yellow (0.4%)

 

Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said,

“Picking a colour is one of the many exciting decisions to make when specifying a new car, as well as selecting from the cutting-edge safety and comfort tech available on the latest low emission vehicles. Manufacturers are continually investing to bring more choice to car buyers, including more colours and colour combinations than ever before.”

 

Grey hit a record amount of registrations with 500,714 units, which also amounted to its highest-ever market share.

Bronze jumped three places to land in a top 10 position for the first time 7 years, with demand growing 39.5% to 12,421 units.

Orange was a riser in 2017, with demand increasing by 9.4% with 19,064 units registered.

 

Yellow stuck in 10th place, just overtaken by bronze as demand slid -17.1% on the previous year.

Pink’s popularity sunk, with just a measly 1,327 registrations – the lowest since 2011.