The Most Popular Car Colors Around the World and Across the United States

What is the most popular car color in the world? According to the Global Automotive 2020 Color Popularity Report , the answer is white.More than one third of all the cars in the world are white cars, followed in popularity by grayscale-colored cars like black, gray and silver. These grayscale colors, along with white, make up 81% of the vehicle colors in the world, leaving our roads looking very bland indeed. Why is white such a popular choice for a car paint color? Some believe that Apple's iPhone helped popularize the color so that white is now associated with being modern.

What is the most popular car color in the United States? White cars win again, making up nearly a quarter of the vehicles on American roads. As for non-grayscale-colored cars, the U.S. does differ from the rest of the world in that it prefers the color red over blue. Check out this infographic from Automotive Touchup to learn more:

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The Most Popular Car Colors Around the World, And Across the United States - Automotive Touchup Touch Up Paint - Infographic

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What Is the Most Popular Car Color in the World?

The most popular car color in the world is white, with 38% of all cars falling into this paint color category. White car colors can be broken down further into two categories: solid white and pearl white. Solid white cars are more popular and make up 27% of cars worldwide, while pearl white cars account for just 11%. China is where white is the most popular color choice for a car, with 57% of their cars falling into this color category.

The World's Most Popular Car Colors

  1. White: 38%
  2. Black: 19%
  3. Gray: 15%
  4. Silver: 9%
  5. Blue: 7%
  6. Red: 5%
  7. Brown/Beige: 3%
  8. Yellow/Gold: 2%
  9. Green: 1%
  10. Other: 1%

While grayscale colors dominate the top of the list, which non-grayscale colors are the most popular around the world? Blue comes out on top at 7%, with red following close behind at 5%. Below is a list of the countries where the most colorful cars can be found. Japan dominates the list, with 30% of their cars found to be a non-grayscale paint color.

The Places With the Most Non-Grayscale-Colored Cars

  1. Japan: 30%
  2. Russia: 26.5%
  3. North America: 22.5%
  4. South Korea: 22%
  5. Europe: 20%
  6. India: 20%
  7. Asia: 18%
  8. South America: 15.5%
  9. Africa: 15.5%
  10. China: 13%

What Is the Most Popular Car Color in the United States?

The most popular car color in the United States is white, making up 23.9% of cars on the road. Black was a close second choice at 23.2%. Like in the worldwide data, a majority of the cars on American roads are grayscale colors, with just 22.5% of cars being sold in a non-grayscale paint color. Red was the winning choice for non-grayscale colors, making up 10.3% of American cars.

America's Most Popular Car Colors

  1. White: 23.9%
  2. Black: 23.2%
  3. Gray: 15.5%
  4. Silver: 14.5%
  5. Red: 10.3%
  6. Blue: 9%
  7. Brown: 1.4%
  8. Green: 0.7%
  9. Beige: 0.4%
  10. Orange: 0.4%
  11. Gold: 0.3%
  12. Yellow: 0.2%
  13. Purple: 0.1%

When comparing the preferred car paint color on a state-by-state basis, white wins again, but by a slim margin. Twenty-seven states were found to prefer white cars, while the other 23 states prefer black cars. Red was the top non-grayscale color in 38 states, while blue was the leading color in the other 12 states. Vermont is the most colorful state in the nation, with 30% non-grayscale-colored cars, while Hawaii is the least colorful, with just 17.1%.

After seeing which car colors are the most popular across the world, how common is the color of your car? Looking for touch up paint and not sure which color your car is? Learn how to find the paint code on your make and model here.