Put down the Just for Men: Brits are going gray gracefully, it seems.
For the sixth year in a row, gray topped the new car color charts in 2023, figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) confirm.
More than half a million (509,194) gray cars were registered in 2023 – a 22.6 percent increase in volume compared to 2022 – as the British stick to monochrome tones for their cars.
In fact, more than one in four (26.8 percent) new cars registered last year were gray. But there’s a very good reason why the majority opt for one of the most boring paint choices…
For the sixth year in a row, the most popular car color in Britain was gray, accounting for more than a quarter of all new motorcycles registered. But there’s a very clever reason why Brits buy soft tones
The new car market had its best year since the pandemic in 2023, but buyer tastes remained the same when it came to paint options, with black and white being the second and third most popular colors.
It means the top three boring basic colors have remained the same for the past six years, as Britain’s new car buyers are becoming very predictable indeed.
The monochrome trio will account for almost two-thirds (63.5 percent) of all new cars on British roads by 2023.
Still, the British are right to play it safe with these colors, even though it may seem uninspiring.
This is because gray cars make great financial sense.
Color can have a very big impact on the residual value of a car. For example, a bright pink car will always have a smaller customer base than a gray or black one, likely lowering the price the next buyer is willing to pay when it hits the second-hand market.
And because the vast majority of private buyers today finance new cars using PCP finance deals – which pay back the vehicle’s depreciation – monthly repayments can be higher for cars in unusual shades, which face lower residual values as a result of the reduced demand on the second-hand market. .
Britain’s best-selling new car of 2023 – the Ford Puma – was the most sold in grey, but the best-selling gray car was the Nissan Qashqai.
In patriotic fashion, blue and red completed the top five, with the former becoming extremely popular.
Demand for blue paint rose 10.9 percent to become the fourth most popular color for new cars. So expect many more cars to drive by this year.
However, Red (which remained in fifth place) recorded its lowest market share since 2005, while its popularity has declined since 2019.
Blue and red rounded out the top five most popular new car colours, although demand for the latter appears to be declining
British taste in new car colors over the past decade: the move to black and white seems unchangeable
The annual SMMT new car registration figures showed which new car colors British motorists bought last year and where
But the big surprise of the year was the revival of greenery; the color often associated with nature, growth and innovation (but also happiness and optimism) reached its highest market share since 2004.
With a market share of 2.8 percent and the highest volume sold since 2005 with 53,426 units, there were significantly more green cars on the road than in the past twenty years.
While it seems logical to attribute this to the movement towards a more environmentally friendly future, green is in fact not the color of choice for new electric or hybrid cars.
Instead, zero-emission vehicles – which also had a record year for registrations – tend to be on the road in shades of grey, just like petrol and diesel cars.
While you might expect the revival of the color green to be a nod to the environment for electric car owners, it has actually been more popular for internal combustion cars.
Zero-emission cars, like this KIA EV6, instead followed the gray trend of combustion cars and were not responsible for the newfound popularity of green
Mike Hawes, CEO of SMMT, said: ‘2023 was a banner year for the UK new car market as buyers continued to gravitate towards familiar monochrome shades for another year – even as more motorists embrace new technologies.’
However, it wasn’t all banal monochromes for British motorists.
There were a few spots of color, with people putting bright beams on the road.
Some 604 registrations were maroon, pink and cream colored cars – a small tribute to individuality.
Strathclyde residents showed their sunny dispositions as they ranked the most registrations of yellow in Britain, with 677 units sold in the area.
And Berkshire is the county you should move to if you’re a Barbie fan, as it registered the most pink cars – one in ten, in fact.
“Car manufacturers have been diligently expanding their offering, with a huge selection of color options available across hundreds of models and thousands of specification options,” Hawes added.
‘The extensive variety offers drivers flexibility in choosing a shade that embodies their individuality and style.’
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