Colours of cars

What colour car would you choose?

Most of you might choose your favourite colour, but if you spend a bit of time thinking about what happens after you buy a car, you might have a different view about it.

Let’s think about the resale value of a car. In Japan, depending on the colour of a car, some get a high price and some do not. The reasons are as follows. When you buy a new car, you can choose the colour you want. However, when you want to buy a used car, they are already painted and the colours are already decided, you will have to find a particular one in the colour you want. Among all the population of driving age, about half buy used cars and the most popular colour is black or several other colours in their mind. On the other hand, it will be 10 – 20% at most who choose black when they buy them new. (
I am only guessing. ) So within all the used cars on the market, only 1 in 5 are black and half of the people who want used cars want the cars of that colour, it means with the balance of supply and demand, black cars will get a higher price than the same model cars in different colours. Not as much as black, white is also a sought-after colour in the used car market and white cars tend to sell at higher price.

What about other colours? Lately silver is firmly in the top place. When people buy new cars, most of them chose silver; because so many are around, there is no scarcity value. You will not have trouble finding one in this colour which is why there is not much increase in price because of the colour. How about blue, red, yellow, green and purple? Unless the manufacturers set one of these colours as the standard colour for their cars, such as red for Alfa Romeo and blue for Subaru Impreza, these colours are less popular. These colours are not something many people are after and bring the car prices down in most cases. Green is the colour which can bring the car price dramatically down. (I personally like the colour…)

It also depends on the combination of the colour & car model. Cars like Mercedes Benz, BMW and Lexus, when you compare the one in black and other colours, the difference in the price is more significant than normal Japanese cars. I think black adds charm to these expensive cars and other colours just do not have the same effect.

However, I can only say this about Japan. People with different cultural background have a different image towards colours. In our neighbouring country Korea, according to a dealer who trades with us, the most popular colour is black then silver. A Kazakhstan dealer said the most popular colour is also black but white (the second most popular colour in Japan) is the taboo colour general public are not allowed to use because of their religion (Islam), unless they are for special occasions such as weddings. What is it like in your country?

Lastly, not from a used car resale perspective but let me talk about the colours from a standpoint of maintenance after purchase. Black has the disadvantage of showing dirt & scratches easily. It costs time & money to keep a black car clean all the time. White cars can show dirt but cover scratches and because the white paint dries harder it will not get scratches easily. The colour which least shows dirt & scratches is silver and is popular for people who do not have a chance to wash their cars very often.

How was it? Was this useful information? So next time, think what colour is the most popular in your country before you buy a new car.


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(Editor)
JPC TRADE CO.,LTD.
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Japan Used Motor Vehicle Exporters Association (JUMVEA)
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