For the seventh year in a row, grey has topped the new car colour charts, figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reveal.
It was the best year ever for grey, with 27.8 per cent of all new cars registered in 2024 this colour, up 6.7 per cent on the year previous.
In 2023, 509,194 grey cars were registered – but over the course of 2024, 543,464 cars joined the road in muted grey shades.
And while British drivers might not be adventurous in their choices there’s good reason why they’re picking the bland options.
Tastes may have stayed the same when it comes to the most popular colour, but motorists have branched out in the top three, adding variety for the first time in seven years.
And all because blue moved up into third place – its first appearance in the top three since 2010, and the first time a non-monochromatic colour has entered the podium since 2017.
For the seventh year in a row grey is the most popular new car colour in the UK
Black remained securely settled in runner up spot. Overall, the top three represented 64.5 per cent of all new cars joining UK roads in 2024.
White dropped from third to fourth this year, falling 7.2 per cent, while red held firm in fifth place but recorded a 4.1 per cent drop.
It was red’s lowest market share since 2003.
Monochrome colours make up around half of the most popular car colours British drivers chose last year
Blue made moves in 2024, taking third place in the car colour popularity rankings – the first time a non-monochromatic colour has been in the top three since 2017
Black however had another strong year, taking home second for yet another year in a row
Last year saw 93 different shades on offer to drivers.
And some buyers did branch out with green and yellow seeing rises across the top 10, increasing by 27.7 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively.
At the other end of the scale, pink, maroon and turquoise vehicles were unpopular, accounting for just 747 registrations in total.
Pink was the least favourite colour taking just 145 registrations, down on 2023 by 31 per cent.
And turquoise proved the year’s most spurned colour, dropping from 3,627 registrations in 2023 to just 362 last year – marking the colour’s steepest recorded decline and its lowest performance since 2002.
Why are so many car buyers going grey?
The SMMT’s latest figure show how much market share each colour takes up, which garish colours only a drop in the ocean
Many drivers are playing it safe because boring car colours can pay off financially in the long run.
Colour can have a very big impact on a car’s residual values.
Unusual, individual, eccentric or garish colours such as pink, purple or even yellow will appeal to far fewer buyers than a grey or black car, which will reduce the car’s resale value when its sold on in the used car market.
And for PCP finance deals – which is how most private buyers fund new cars – monthly repayments can actually be higher for cars in unusual shades, due to reduced demand on the second-hand market and lower residual values.
The UK’s best-selling cars of 2024 – which shades did were most popular?
The UK’s best-selling car of 2024, the Ford Puma, was snapped up the most in the most popular car colour of the year; grey
The best-selling car of last year, the Ford Puma, was snapped up most in grey, as were the Kia Sportage, Nissan Qashqai and Nissan Juke – the second, third and fourth best-selling cars.
Overall seven out of the top 10 best-selling cars of 2024 were registered the most in grey.
The top 10 was overall a monochrome grouping; all the colours were grey, black or white.
The Tesla Model Y, the only EV to sneak into the top 10 best-sellers and landing in fifth place, was the lone model that was favourited in white.
The MG HS and Volvo XC40 – which took eight and ninth places respectively – were the two cars British drivers loved in black.
The Tesla Model Y, the fifth best-selling car las year, was the only model in the top 10 that buyers overwhelming chose white for
While none of the top 10 were green, the Kia Sportage was most popular in this shade.
Green is seeing a resurgence in popularity, as it did in 2023.
Registrations of green cars recorded the fastest rate of growth since 2004 up 27.7 per cent.
Green-coloured vehicles notched 68,230 registrations, more than double than in 2022.
The SMMT believes this reflects the growing popularity of ‘green’ powered cars – with battery electric vehicles (BEVs) accounting for almost one in five registrations last year.
However, no matter how eco-conscious British motorists are, grey was still the favoured choice among BEV buyers with 95,463 reaching the road.
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