Henry Ford’s old quip may seem dated at a time when there is a multitude of colour options for new car owners, but it seems that even today, drivers prefer the neutral colours.

A new survey from carwow has found that when it comes to choosing car colours, 67% opt for neutral colours such as black, white and grey.
Twenty years ago the top three car colours were blue, silver and red, but despite the options we seem to be more conservative in our choices, or we have other reasons for choosing our colours. It was thought that the colour of your car could affect insurance premiums, however those rumours have been put to bed by comparison website GoCompare, with founder Lee Griffin saying: “There have been various studies over the years to explore the possible correlation between car colour and accident rates, and there is some evidence that black cars may be harder to spot in certain light, compared to white, gold and yellow cars.

“However, UK insurers do not take colour into account when setting premiums as the statistics are too unreliable. They will focus on your age and driving history as well as the type of car that you drive, which are all better indicators of your insurance risk.”
Financial considerations may play a part though, black and white are often the standard colours, with more vibrant colours often an optional extra.

There are loads of different reasons behind why you would ‘play it safe’ and opt for a car in black or white,” said a carwow spokesman. “Firstly, it’s often the cheapest option as it’s standard, but another perceived benefit for drivers who change their car regularly is the most popular colours are the easiest to sell on and there is also a widely held urban legend that your car colour can impact your insurance premium.”

Top 14 car colours of 2019 so far

Colour	Percentage
Black	21.66%
White	18.98%
Grey	18.68%
Blue	15.69%
Red	10.76%
Silver	7.94%
Orange	0.94%
Green	0.82%
Brown	0.76%
Beige	0.32%
Yellow	0.29%
Two-tone	0.16%
Purple	0.10%
Gold	0.09%

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