On the Dash:
- White remains the most popular car color with 25.7% market share, up from 22.1% in 1996, followed closely by black and gray.
- Gray has seen the largest gain of any color, rising from 3.6% market share in 1996 to 22.9% in 2025.
- Sports cars remain the most colorful vehicle segment, with non-grayscale colors accounting for 36.2% of the category, more than any other segment.
The shift toward neutral colors has been building for nearly three decades, as buyers increasingly choose white, black, gray, and silver over brighter exterior colors.
A recent iSeeCars analysis examined over 22 million used cars from model years 1996 through 2025 and found that white, black, gray, and silver collectively account for 80.4% of the vehicle market, up from 47.3% in 1996.
Gray’s rapid rise
Gray has seen the most dramatic growth of any color in the study, climbing from 3.6% market share in 1996 to 22.9% in 2025, a 528.4% increase. iSeeCars Executive Analyst Karl Brauer noted that the shift reflects losses elsewhere in the market.
The data also reflects that red colored cars fell from 20.1% market share in 1996 to 7.0% in 2025, while green declined from 13.4% to 2.2%. Combined, red and green now account for just 9.2% of the market, compared with 33.5% nearly 30 years ago.
How the story differs by segment
By vehicle type, trucks have shifted even more heavily toward neutral shades than the broader market, with grayscale colors accounting for 83.5% of the category. White leads the truck segment at 33.6%, meaning more than one in three trucks now has a white finish.
SUVs show a similar pattern with grayscale colors rising from 43.8% in 1996 to 79.3% in 2025. Green and red lost the most ground in that segment, while blue remained comparatively stable.
However, sports cars present a notable contrast. Non-grayscale colors account for 36.2% of sports cars, nearly double their 19.6% share across the overall market. Blue, yellow, purple, and orange have all gained share in the sports car segment, suggesting buyers in that category retain a stronger preference for expressive color choices.
What dealers should watch
The data reinforces what many dealers have observed in their ordering patterns. That grayscale inventory continues to appeal to a broad range of buyers. However, iSeeCars noted that grayscale market share has remained close to 80% since the 2020 model year, suggesting the long-running shift toward neutral colors may be stabilizing.
For dealers, that plateau could be worth watching. While white, black, gray, and silver remain the dominant choices across most of the market, sports cars show that color still plays an important role in segments where buyers value personalization and expression.
As automakers make future paint options available, dealers may need to balance the reliability of neutral inventory with selective opportunities for bolder colors in the right segments.
