[CarNerd]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Look up any image of any major street in any major town around the world, from say 40 years ago and you will see all kinds of colours. Also, cars looked much more different from each other.

Now all brands have models you can’t tell apart and buyers who only like 3-4 colours. I know the world has bigger issues, but why can’t we have some more colourful cars?

Absolutely! When we can distinguish between 10 million colors, why are we forced to choose between 10 boring colors? Even Orange is rare! Companies should find an economic way to give more colors. Dual tone and multi tone colors should be common. Also, there shouldn't be any legal hassles if one wants to change the color afterwards.

[srh]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Also, maintenance, touch up re-spray can be done with any colour. There is very little difference in cost.

Jeroen

Issue isn't the cost. Issue is being able to match the exact shade

[RedTerrano]

Over the years, I have owned a silver, a creme and a red coloured vehicle.

Despite this, my colour of choice would have been black, if not for the maintenance horror associated with it. Any smudge, a speck of dust or even a minor scratch are prominently visible.

But overall I prefer colours which stand out.
The Terrano Red, BMW blue or the old Wagon-R yellow appeal to me.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by srh

Issue isn't the cost. Issue is being able to match the exact shade

I can’t tell for India, but here in the west it is not a problem at all. Any paint shop can make a perfect match, be it an old or a brand new paint. All of my cars have had the odd dent and part re-spray. You really can’t tell. It is really quite remarkable what they can do these days.

Jeroen

[ScorpioYadav]

Father's first car was a Maruti 800 in the Dark Neptune Blue shade which was a new introduction in the early 90s & the car used to look absolutely gorgeous in that colour. It used to really shine after applying a coat of wax polish on it but due to it being a dark shade, even a single grain of sand was visible on it.

Lesson learnt, dark colours can only be maintained with people with lots of time on their hands or those with dedicated house-helps to assist them !!

Since then, it has always been light coloured cars in our house, Whites & Silvers to be precise. However, the now discontinued Steel Silver shade of Seltos is more of Steel Grey than Silver & they replaced it with Sparkling Silver just a week after my father took delivery of his latest ride in April !!

The Greys have been on the rise in India since mid-last decade with EcoSport & Nexon rocking that colour. Lately, Silver has dropped of in the pecking order as it doesn't look all that good in dual-tone options except for when matched with a black top one. It would have made interesting reading if the % figures of Blue would've been broken into Light & Dark Blues as both are altogether very different colours.

P.S. : The BLACK Mahindra Jeep in the DP belongs to a cousin who likes his SUVs Black.

[Turbohead]

Any idea how the figures will fare once we remove taxis from the numbers? I believe white will go down to maybe 20-30% in such cases

[TheGearBox]

Has anyone noticed how many manufacturers have stopped offering black shades on their cars? Maruti, VW, Honda come to mind. Now, if someone wants a black car, they have to either look at the used market or go right to the premium brands.

Is there a particular reason why black is being shunned by these brands?

[AROO7]

Originally Posted by GTO

An exception being this head-turner:

You missed one

(pic credit- respective owner)

Audi's Nardo Grey
Looks even more smashing with gloss black trims.

For some viewing pleasure here are three cars sporting non-OEM colors-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnWVdclhTVg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb0XkSouXwE

(video credits- Brotomotiv)

[clementw]

A colleague remarked that he only buys white cars because it gives him a spacious feel. I was told off black by many saying that its a heat magnet. I have had white, silver, grey and now blue. So I guess I have evolved with age. Ultimately it comes down to the family votes when it comes to car colour choice especially if its a family car. The little one had a significant role in the bright blue choice.
Great thread.

[XDriver]

White is the undisputed King in Hyderabad too. You see too many of them. Easy to maintain I guess and makes the car look bigger than it is. I like Blue personally. Both my Estoril Blue and Phytonic Blue are 'blue' but very very different. Love them both. Blue is like fountain pen Blue ink. There are hundreds of blue inks to keep one happy. My third car is White.

[ajayc123]

There was a time when there was some price difference between metallic and non metallic colours. And some colours like white were cheaper.

I had done a cursory check for Maruti pricing, and found that the price difference is not there now. I would have hoped that this could have changed the colour preference, but no, white is still the most popular.

Anyway, for me, I would choose white only if that was the only colour.

[autotranny]

My first car was Champagne Gold (sold), then came Sparkling Silver, then Star Dust (which is Hyundai speak for Grey) and now Black. So essentially I have 3 of the top 4 colors. While white looks regal in many premium cars, it tends to give me a Taxi vibe in smaller ones.

[hummer]

It is no longer with me, but my all time favorite color (Nissan calls it the Bronze Gray):

[Kln]

White is king. Honda knows this, and charges a premium for its 'Pearl White' variants. It won't be long before companies start charging for separate colours. Elsewhere such as Australia, companies charge an extra for any colour except the standard white/black.

[ellip5i5]

Elders in my family used to advise against choosing black as it would reduce vehicle visibility in the dark.

Would like hear from the members on their views on this.