India's Most Wanted – Most Popular Used Car Colours In The Country

When it comes to colours, we all have our personal preferences. While black and white were once considered as the base colours for anything from clothes to cars, today, the popularity of colours such as red, yellow, blue, orange, green, pink, and all their neon counterparts can been seen practically everywhere we look. However, the influence of colours has not yet moved forward into the automobile industry. So, what are the most-sold colours in the old car market in India?

For the past decade, and before that, white, silver, and black have been topping the charts for the most requested colours in the used car market. Why? Simply put, white, silver, and black cars always look better and fresh – even if the cars are old. White cars also tend to look bigger whereas silver adds a bit of style to the vehicle. Black, as we know, is a classic colour and you can’t really go wrong with the choice. Now, it also comes down to the finishes of the car with regular finishes offering durability, metallic finishes looking the best, and matte finishes considered as the least preferred in India. Today, car manufacturers sell cars in a variety of colours including different shades of red, yellow, and blue but white, silver, and black still stand out as the most sold variations.

Moving on from looks, we also see that white and silver cars offer a better resale value when compared to red, yellow, and even black cars. As of the latest study, a total of 46 percent of Indian cars are white in colour. White tends to not show scratches, dents, or even scrapes, however, a black or dark coloured variant will highlight the scratches significantly. In that sense, white and silver cars require the least amount of maintenance whereas black, red, or blue cars require the most. Dust is quite obviously more visible on black or any dark colour as compared to its lighter counterpart.

Now, we move over to the colours that are least preferred for used cars in India. As mentioned earlier, greens, blues, yellows, oranges, and even reds have become increasingly popular in the fashion industry but when it comes to cars, Indians look to stay away from those shades. What we can say though is that the cars available in India are designed to look best in whites, silvers, and blacks. If you think about a Ferrari, red will quite obviously be the first choice of colour for anyone but a red coloured Honda City is something no one in India wants to own. In fact, cars that come in red, yellow, blue, green, pink, and brown have been the major reason behind people preparing RC transfers to get rid of their vehicle for the best deals. Along with the above-mentioned colours, Indians do not prefer browns, greens, golds, beiges, pinks, and blues.

Let’s get into some numbers shall we?

In India, 4 out of 10 cars produced, and 8 out of 10 globally produced vehicles are white. A total of about 15 percent of all cars produced in the country were painted silver and grey individually. Among the chromatic colour options, red was the most popular option with a total of 9 percent of all cars produced in the country. Moving onto the different segments of cars, the SUV segment (the most popular segment today) has a total of about 41 percent of white SUVs produced in the country. Putting that in perspective, 23 percent of all cars produced in India are SUVs. Red, Silver, and Grey colours in the SUV segment are represented at 12, 14, and 15 percent respectively. In the mid-size segment white, black, and blue are the most popular with 40, 18, and 16 percent respectively. The least favourite colours in the mind-size segment include red with 3 percent and brown and grey with 5 percent each.

What can we see in the future?

Every year, car manufacturers produce new models and offer them in a plethora of colour options including the popular white, silver, black, and a handful of chromatic colours such as reds, blues, and other colours. Given the fact that white, silver, grey, black have been dominating the market in India and around the world, can we expect to see a rise in popularity of reds and blues in the near future? Unfortunately, we cannot answer that right now, but we are sure of one thing – white will always remain a favourite among new cars as well as the used car segment in India. Used car evaluation tools have made it easier for people to find their preferred model and in their preferred colour option without having to spend loads of cash. These tools work like a pre-owned car finder and can be operated through a smartphone or a computer so you don’t have to go looking for the best dealerships around you.