UK’s favourite new car colour revealed

Grey was the most popular new car colour of 2020 in the UK, according to the latest figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

Almost a quarter (24.3%) of all new cars sold were grey (397,197) and it’s the third year in a row that it has topped the colour charts.

Black was the second most popular colour with 19.9% of the market share, while white was third with 17.37%.

More than six in 10 (61.6%) of all new cars in 2020 were painted in these three monochrome colours.

Interestingly, grey was the most in-demand colour for both petrol and diesel cars, with 248,182 and 84,489 registered respectively.

White was the most popular for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) with 25,689 cars and black was the top shade for plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) with 17,989 registered.

Overall, blue was the fourth most popular colour (16.92% of new cars), followed by red with 9.03%.

However, red saw its registrations drop below 200,000 for the first time in a decade to 147,222, recording its worst showing since 1997.

Silver was at number six with 7.49% of registrations, followed by orange (1.26%) and green (0.89%).

Yellow was at number nine with 0.42% — increasing its market share by 50% but equivalent to only 6,816 sales.

“2020 was a pretty dark year for the automotive industry and having grey as the top new car colour probably reflects the atmosphere,” said Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive.