Our favourite car colour in NSW is white, followed by grey and silver. British and American motorists prefer grey. Does car colour affect the price of your green slip or motor insurance? Find out here.
Most motorists prefer white cars
greenslips.com.au analysed NSW registration and licensing statistics from 1 January to 30 June 2022 by vehicle type and colour. We found motorists prefer their cars to be white.
Most light vehicles are white and grey
Exactly two fifths (40%) of the 186,894 light vehicles registered in NSW in first half of 2022 were white. The next most popular colour was grey. This segment includes light trucks, light passenger cars, motorcycles and scooters.
We compiled the top 6 car colours:
Top 6 colours
- White 74,578 (40%)
- Grey 35,754 (19%)
- Silver 22,241 (12%)
- Black 20,462 (11%)
- Blue 16,025 (9%)
- Red 10,300 (6%)
- Well over two thirds (71%) of all light vehicles are in the top 3 colours and grey and silver are similar.
- A quarter (25%) are in the next 3 colours.
- Fawn, pink or chrome is the least desirable car colour.
Passenger cars are white and grey
The 90,149 passenger cars registered in the first half of 2022 in NSW are also more likely to be white:
- White 33,599 (37%)
- Grey 16,884 (19%)
- Blue 10,739 (12%)
- Over two thirds (68%) are in the top 3.
- Unlike all light vehicles, blue is in the top 3.
- The least popular car colour is chrome, tan or fawn.
Light trucks are mainly white
White is easily the majority choice for the 32,672 light trucks registered in NSW in first half 2022.
- White 18,551 (57%)
- Grey 5,608 (17%)
- Silver 2,810 (9%)
- Some 83% are in the top 3 colours.
- Fawn, purple and pink are the least desirable.
Motorcycles are often black
Over a quarter of owners of the 9,658 motorbikes registered in first half 2022 chose black. Black is still the most popular colour, even though it’s hard to see on the road.
- Black 2,736 (28%)
- White 1,866 (19%)
- Blue 1,205 (12%)
Some 60% of motorcycles are in the top 3 colours.
- White is gaining in popularity.
- Fawn and pink were rejected completely.
Car colours around the world
Favourite car colours in Australia, the UK and US are like a scene from a black and white movie.
During the 2022 year, UK motorists registered 415,199 grey cars. Grey was overwhelmingly their favourite colour, followed by black and white. These 3 colours made up 62.5% of all cars sold and silver made up a further 6.1%. For example, one Range Rover is available in 4 greys and 4 silvers. Americans are also most likely to drive grey (34%), followed by white (24%) and black (18%) cars.
Why is grey so popular? Perhaps grey is a familiar and trusted colour in the UK and US. In contrast, Italian carmaker Fiat has decided to no longer produce cars that are painted grey. It wants to be the “brand of joy, colours and optimism” and to use the shades of “Italy’s sea, sun, earth and sky“.
Do insurers consider your car colour?
It depends. Some insurers don’t even ask for the colour of your car. They say that safety features on newer models outweigh the impact of colour on its risk of a crash. However, the type of paint used may impact the price. Metallic and pearl paint colours are more costly to fix than regular paint colours.
While colour could be an indicator of safety, comprehensive insurance depends on many other factors, such as garaging, driver’s age and claims record, and the type of vehicle being insured.
The price of your greenslip is not based on vehicle colour. However, your accident and claims record does affect prices, So if the colour of your vehicle causes you to make a claim, it indirectly puts up the cost of your greenslip.
Also see an earlier blog: What colour is your vehicle?
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