Most New Cars Sold In 2021 Were Monochromatic

The numbers are in, and once again, UK car buyers have proven themselves to be hilariously unadventurous when it comes to picking a colour. Why? Because most don’t pick a colour at all - the top three choices, which make up a combined market share of 62.5 per cent, were a dull monochromatic set.

According to figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), in first place for the fourth year running was grey with a whopping 24.8 per cent share of the new car market. Black trailed in second with 20.5 per cent of total sales, while white was in third with 17 per cent.

It was the 11th year running featuring a monochromatic top three, although, on the plus side, blue did come incredibly close to breaking that spell. It was just 0.2 per cent and 2638 cars behind white, and well ahead of red which didn’t have much more than half blue’s market share at 8.8 per cent.

One big mover from the last few years is green. Having already increased its sales volume by 23.6 per cent last year, the hue jumped in popularity by another 24 per cent to snag seventh in the top 10 table. To put things in perspective, though, its market share was a mere 1.1 per cent with 17,927 cars sold in the colour, which pales in comparison to the near 400,000 grey cars that made it onto our roads last year.

The SMMT notes that Greater London is the region in which you’re most likely to spot one of those green cars, with 1263 registered there last year. Bedfordshire has the highest population of new pink cars, but you’re still not likely to see one there with just 66 sold there. Apparently orange is in vogue in the West Midlands, which had the highest number of registrations in the colour of any UK region at 1156.

As for why so many UK car buyers like to play it safe and go for grey, the SMMT suggests several reasons. These include it being “well-suited to black trims and darker wheels,” a nice compromise between white and black, its ability to hide dirt, and the potential for better resale value.