Paint maker PPG Industries, which begin tabulating car color total 20 years ago, reported via a press release:
“In North America, the silver, gray and charcoal category saw a dramatic rise in popularity to 31 percent this year. The color accounted for 25 percent in 2009 and 20 percent in 2008.”
Ironically, Green, the most popular 16 years ago, was the least popular with four percent.
“There’s clearly been a significant strengthening of silver’s popularity in recent years,” Jane Harrington, PPG manager of color styling and automotive coatings,” told USA Today.
“And, with more than two-thirds of cars in North America being black, silver or white, one might be inclined to believe that vibrant colors don’t exist in automobiles anymore. But that’s not true.”
Article Last Updated: March 26, 2026.
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A sports, travel and business journalist for more than 45 years, James has written the new car review column The Weekly Driver since 2004.
In addition to founding this site in 2004, James writes a Sunday automotive column for The San Jose Mercury and East Bay Times in Walnut Creek, Calif., and monthly auto review and wellness columns for Gulfshore Business, a magazine in Southwest Florida.
An author and contributor to many newspapers, magazines and online publications, co-hosted The Weekly Driver Podcast from 2017 to 2024.