When I think about car colors the first thing that always comes to mind is this famous quote by Henry Ford: “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.” We’ve certainly come a long way from the single color option, but the color variations produced over the years have not strayed far from the “standards,” and year after year the same colors reign in popularity. All of this brings up some questions in my mind, like what consideration are made when producing these colors, who are the people making these decisions, and are consumers really that afraid of different colors? Well, thanks to this guest post from the team working on the Range Rover Evoque we get a little insight into this vey conundrum.
Choosing a car colour from a range in a showroom is simultaneously the most difficult and most fun part of buying a new car. For Mel McWhirter, principal colour designer at Range Rover, choosing the right colour is very important. It’s her job. Mel is in charge of the colour range for the new Range Rover Evoque car.
“We take inspiration from design exhibitions and also colour trends that are predicted for the future,” says Mel “We do also have to take into account the fact that for most people, buying a car is an investment. We need to guide our customers towards a choice that is right for them and the product.”
McWhirter and her team have to strike the right balance between practicality and fashion in colour selection. Data collected on car colour trends show that whilst the ‘monochromatic colours’ black, silver and white are still the most popular, ‘colour’ is making a comeback.
While Europe tends to lead the way with car colour trends, different markets have different tastes and requirements that are influenced by many factors. Red, popular for sports cars in the US, is also a lucky colour in China.
“People are moving away from the neutral colours and red is becoming more popular again,” says Mel. “One of our new colours is a bright new red. It’s great; we have been trying for a number of years to develop a bright red but technology limitations prevented us from achieving the intense colour we desired, until now.”
One surprising aspect of car colour selection is the effect of other industries on the availability and demand for certain colours “In consumer electronics we have seen colour coming back in” says Mel ”The iPod being in a range of colours for example has shown that some colours like lime green have become desirable again.”
Dupont, who have tracked colour trends in cars for 55 years, confirm this influence. They have reported the decline of a once very popular colour across all regions of the world: silver. For the first time this century silver has dropped from the top of the popularity chart in America, alhtough in Japan and China it remains the most popular colour.
Black and white are still the most popular colours across the world, but new variations in paint technology are introducing colour to keep things interesting. A good example of this is the metallic black being adopted by many car companies for their new models. “In the Range Rover Design Studio, we have for the past few years been leading the trend by developing not only a neutral metallic black, but also a tinted black with red sparkle that is created using Xirallic – a multi sparkle technology,” says Mel “it’s a way for people to experiment with colour without committing to something too bright. The Xirallic colours are just one of the new developments in colour creation for the Range Rover Evoque.”
Evoque Colors
Evoke Wireframe Installations
