White Is the New Black

White tops the list of the most popular car colors in the world for the second straight year in the 60th annual Automotive Color Popularity Report issued by automotive supplier DuPont in Wilmington, Del. But the new whites aren’t the same as yesterday’s pallid paint job. “Today, white tri-coats are more readily applicable to the global manufacturing base and evoke quality and value,” says DuPont color marketing manager Nancy Lockhart. “Solid whites have been seen in vanilla shades, stone shades and the current preference of bright whites.” Black comes in second globally, followed by silver, a former favorite. “Vehicles painted black or black effect are seen as luxury status symbols in several key global markets,” Lockhart says. “Silver peaked during the start of the digital age between 2000 and 2006.” Here’s the complete list of top global vehicle colors in DuPont’s report: 1. White/White Pearl (23 percent) 2. Black/Black Effect (21 percent) 3. Silver (18 percent) 4 Gray (14 percent) 5. Red (8 percent) 6. Blue (6 percent) 7. Brown/Beige (6 percent) 8. Green (1 percent) 9. Yellow/Gold (1 percent) 10. Others (2 percent)