Grey was the UK’s best-selling new car colour for the seventh year running in 2024.
Nearly 28 percent of all new cars sold last year were grey, giving the colour its best ever share.
It means that over 543,000 new grey cars hit the roads in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 6.7 percent.
Black was second, while blue overtook white to move up into third place.
It was the first time in seven years there hadn’t been an entirely monochrome top three – and it was blue’s first top three appearance since 2010.
Red held position in fifth, but sales fell 4.1 percent to give the colour its lowest market share in 22 years.
Colour wheels
Although almost 2 in 3 new cars were either grey, black or white, the other third were painted in one of 93 different colours.
The number of green new cars grew by 27.7 percent, while new yellow cars also rose in number. Both, incidentally, are feature colours of the European Car of the Year-winning new Renault 5.
Greater London saw the most green cars registered – and the best place to play the ‘yellow car’ game is Berkshire, with 779 registered in the region.
A Renault survey suggests that 1 in 5 Brits now play the yellow car game on a road trip.
In contrast, pink, maroon and turquoise cars collectively accounted for a mere 747 registrations.
Pink was the UK’s least-favourite new car colour of all, falling 31 percent with just 145 registrations.
“While 2024 saw more new car buyers go green, with a record number of EVs reaching the road, the ‘face’ of the market remains familiar, with grey and black proving perennially popular,” said SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes.
“While manufacturers strive to ensure every driver can have their pick of a vast choice of paint colours and personalisation options to suit their individual tastes, it seems UK car buyers’ preferences remain steadfastly monochrome.”
Top new cars colours 2024
1: Grey – 543,464 registrations
2: Black – 423,397
3: Blue – 291,928
4: White – 291,629
5: Red – 136,371
6: Silver – 122,473
7: Green – 68,230
8: Yellow – 11,944
9: Orange – 10,754
10: Bronze – 5,526
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