- White is the most popular car color, with over 20% of the market.
- Grayscale colors account for over 80% of vehicles.
- Sports cars are the most colorful, with over 36% in non-grayscale.
Americans love boring car colors. So you may not be shocked to learn that white is the most popular car color in the United States, based on iSeeCars data from over 22 million used cars sold from model years 1996 to 2026, from January 2025 to May 2026.
The study revealed that grayscale hues (white, black, gray, and silver) make up 80.4 percent of the overall car market, which is a truly depressing statistic to report as an automotive website with an enthusiast focus. White led the market with a 25.7 percent share, up 16.7 percent from 21.1 percent in 1996 when it was still the most popular color.
- White — 25.7%
- Black — 23.4%
- Gray — 22.9%
- Blue — 9.1%
- Silver — 8.4%
- Red — 7.0%
- Green — 2.2%
- Brown — 0.4%
- Beige — 0.4%
- Orange — 0.3%
Gray made the biggest gain over the past 30 years, rising 528.4 percent from just 3.6 percent market share in 1996 to 22.9 percent in 2025, putting it in third place behind black at 23.4 percent share. Those three colors alone account for 72 percent of the market, while silver only adds another 8.4 percent in fifth place.
No non-grayscale color appears on the list until blue at number four, and it only makes up 9.1 percent of the market. Even as the most popular “real” color on the list, it has dropped in popularity over the last 30 years, decreasing by 10.8 percent from its 10.2 percent share in 1996.
Other colors—such as red, green, brown, and beige—have also seen their popularity wane since 1996. Red saw the biggest drop, going from a 20.1 percent share over 30 years ago to only a 7.0 percent share in 2025. Green also saw a sizable drop from 13.4 percent to just 2.2 percent. Brown and beige had similarly precipitous dips, but currently have much smaller market shares of 0.4 percent each.
Of the top colors listed, only one non-grayscale hue showed a rise in market share between 1996 and 2025: orange. The bright mixture of red and yellow saw a slight increase of 2.5 percent from 0.2 percent in 1996 to 0.3 percent 30 years later. Other colors such as yellow, gold, and purple also saw drops, though yellow recently earned the title as the best color for resale value.
Photo by: Porsche
Who’s Buying Colors?
Americans’ willingness to buy colorful cars varies a bit depending on the type of vehicle. Trucks have seen the biggest shift towards grayscale, representing 83.5 percent of the market, increasing from just 43.4 percent in 1996, with white leading at 33.6 percent. SUVs are similarly dull, with 79.3 percent grayscale, up from 43.8 percent 30 years ago. White leads SUVs with 25.1 percent.
Passenger cars buck the white trend, with gray taking the number one spot thanks to a 652.1 percent surge in the past 30 years, increasing from just 3.8 percent market share in 1996 to 28 percent in 2025. Black sits at number two with 23.7 percent, and white is down at number three with 21.2 percent.
Gray is also the most popular color for sports cars, accounting for 21.2 percent of the market, up 598.0 percent from 1996. Sports cars have the highest market share of non-grayscale colors at 36.2 percent, and colors like blue, yellow, purple, and orange all gained share.
Motor1’s Take: It’s sad to see so many colors at the bottom of this list, but not shocking. If you wander through any grocery store parking lot, it’s clear that colors are not a priority for many shoppers.
Read the full article here
