PPG Announces Annual Automotive Color Popularity, Trend Data

PPG Industries (NYSE: PPG), the world’s leading manufacturer of transportation coatings, today released its annual automotive color popularity and trend data. While white retained the leading spot as the most popular car color based on 2012 automotive build data, PPG forecasts that the overall use of color is on the rise.

According to PPG’s annual survey of global color popularity, white ranked first (22 percent) and silver was second (20 percent), followed by black (19 percent), gray (12 percent), red (9 percent), natural (8 percent), blue (7 percent), green (2 percent) and other colors (1 percent).

“Color is one of the first characteristics noticed in product design, and it is increasingly being used in everyday items, from cell phones to large appliances, based largely on automotive trends,” said Jane E. Harrington, PPG manager, color styling, automotive OEM (original equipment manufacturer) coatings. “The palette being developed for the automotive segment continues to be influenced by culture, nature, fashion, interior design, color popularity and new pigment technology.”

During this year’s annual Automotive Color Trend Show held at PPG’s offices here in late September, the coatings company presented its ideas for future vehicle colors to leading global automobile manufacturers. Titled “Perspective,” the 2012 show presents PPG’s unique viewpoint and angle on color direction, using insight from all the company’s businesses that color items such as laptop computers, homes, buildings, airplanes, ships and heavy equipment.

“PPG’s internal network of more than 20 color experts and six color styling laboratories around the world keep our company in the vanguard with color trends,” Harrington said. “This global perspective on multiple end-use markets gives PPG unique color expertise that is unmatched in the industry. No coatings company colors more types of surfaces than PPG.”

PPG presented 64 new exterior shades to automotive designers for consideration in designs of the 2015-2016 model years. These included colors such as: Al Fresco, a silver metallic with fresh green tint; Victoria Grey, a classic grey with an iridescent highlight of gold metal; Opulence, a refined red pearl with intense jewel tone; Glacier, an icy graphite grey with a slight violet blue tone; Sunshine, a bright high-sparkle intense yellow; and Elixir, a metallic mixture of silver and magenta.

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