New car buyers continued to favour monochrome colours for their new cars, with grey continuing to be the top shade for a fourth year running.
According to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), 408,155 grey cars were sold in 2021, accounting for almost one-in-four of all models registered. It was the Volkswagen Golf that was the most sold ‘grey’ car during the year too.
The SMMT says grey remains popular because it’s ‘well-suited to black trims and darker wheels and offers an attractive compromise between the also-popular black and white’. Strong resale values for grey cars is another contributing factor.
Other monochrome finishes continued to account for a large chunk of sales too, with black cars representing 20.5 per cent of the market and white models accounting for 17.2 per cent of registrations. Across the three colours, they accounted for more than six-in-10 new cars sold. It was the Volvo XC40 that was the best-selling black car, while the electric Tesla Model 3 was the most popular white car last year.
Meanwhile blue was the fourth most popular shade – with the top-selling car in this colour being the Vauxhall Corsa – while red rounded off the top five, and the Toyota Aygo being the most popular car in this finish.
At the lower end of the table, gold was the fastest-growing colour, with sales of models painted in this colour up by 231.8 per cent, though still accounting for a fractional number of registrations.
SMMT chief executive, Mike Hawes, said: “2021 was anything but normal, but British drivers stuck to their familiar favourites of grey, black and white cars. But while last year’s new cars might share the same shades as previous years, under the bonnet there has been a real shift, with one in six buyers choosing to go green.”
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