Car Colour Trends in 2016 and beyond

Colour trends have evolved continuously over time, from the ethos of “any color as long as it’s black” on the Ford Model T, through the highly saturated colors of the 60’s, the metallic’s of the 80’s and the purples and greens of the 90’s. The last 20 years have been rather monotone, however – 2015’s top car colors in the UK were White, Black and Grey; at #1, #2 and #3 respectively. This matches the rest of the world, too, with 70% of the world’s car colours being White, Black, Silver and Grey.

In recent years we’ve seen older colours returning in the form of trends, such as Audi’s “Beluga Brown” and Mini’s “British Racing Green”. We work on quite a lot of new Range Rovers, and have noticed a new brown/champagne colour “Kaikoura Stone”, a very unique metallic colour. Fiat offer a “Smooth Mint” Green colour, and Porsche’s “Miami Blue”, a throwback to the ocean blue-like colours of the past.

Interestingly, it was thought that Brown would trend and become a favourite for this year, however instead we’ve seen a 23% drop since 2014 in Brown car purchases; instead Black and White lead the way – which could come from the rise of minimalist design and monotone colours being used for other modern purchases, such as phones, TV’s and other electronic devices increasingly being sold in either Black or White.

What’s hard to predict, though, is the colour trends as we move into 2017. It’s looking like we could see Black paint taking a lead, with Grey on it’s tail. Car companies like BMW and Audi have started offering grey colours for their cars, something which was rarely seen previously.

Colour Flip could make a return – companies like MINI and Nissan offered this type of paint technology in around 2004. Recently, premium vinyl suppliers 3M and Avery Dennison released colour flipping vinyl, giving even more possibilities for your vehicle.

Whatever the colour trends and tastes bring next year, we can offer hundreds of colour options and finishes; Including Metallics, Mattes, Chromes and Colour Flip vinyl wraps.
Protect your original bodywork with a high quality wrap while adding a new colour of your choice, wether its something trending, or something else.