Dupont Color Popularity Report

DuPont has rolled out its annual Automotive Color Popularity Report, and it looks like the long-reigning king may be under threat from a new foe. Silver held the most popular color title for seven years until 2007, when it was dethroned by the likes of white and white metallic. That trend carried over for 2008, but in 2009, silver took its place in the spotlight once again. Now it looks like black may be staging a comeback.

This year, of all the cars sold around the world, 26 percent went home with a silver paint job, but 24 percent rolled out of the factory with a black coat.

In India, White dominates with 29% followed by Silver at 24. Brown/Beige has a popularity of 11% while grey is at 9% and Black, blue, red and green stand between 8% and 3% while Yellow/Gold is at a miniscule 2% of the total which makes it the least popular color.

Meanwhile for the US, white, white pearl and grey soaked up just 16 percent of all cars sold in 2010. DuPont says that black's popularity is largely propelled by the color's success in markets outside of the U.S., where noir doesn't quite have the same swagger as elsewhere. In fact, in North America, white retained its popularity with a three percent lead over black and a four-percent jump over silver.