Car colors in Germany: Around 8 out of 10 car drivers choose white, black or grey/silver

Which color do car buyers in Germany choose? Is there a new trend color? Our evaluation reveals it.*

For the end of 2023, around 8 out of 10 car buyers (78.7%) in Germany will choose the colors grey/silver, black or white. A total of 2,048,900 new registrations were for one of these three colors.

The color trio has been able to steadily increase its share in recent years: in 2022, 77.3% of new car buyers in Germany chose one of these three colors, in 2021 it was 75.9% and in 2020 it was 75.8%. As was the case last year, the three colors took the top three places in the same order.

The most popular car color in Germany remains grey/silver, which has been in first place since 2015. Almost one in three car buyers made a decision for it this year so far (31.6%; same period last year: 30.8%). However, as recently as 2004, almost every second buyer (46.4%) chose grey/silver.

A good one in four buyers (26.4%) chose black this year. This meant that black was able to slightly increase its share by 0.1 percentage points.

White, in third place, was also able to slightly increase its share of registrations: around 538,800 people - a good one in five buyers (20.7%) - chose this color over the course of the year so far. In the same period last year it was 20.2%. White is a good example of how the popularity of car colors can change over the years: in 2006, just 1.6% of buyers chose a white car.

Green trend continues

When it comes to bright colors, the trend towards green, which first appeared in 2021, continues. This year, green once again takes third place among the bright colors. Although green only accounts for 2.5% of new registrations this year (around 66,000 units), a look at the absolute numbers shows an increase of 28.8% compared to the same period last year. This is by far the highest increase among all car colors. Since 2020, registrations of the color green have actually increased by 114%.

As in the previous year, blue has again lost shares (–0.3 percentage points), but almost one in ten car drivers still chooses it (9.6%). This means that blue remains the most popular bright color for new car registrations in the country.

As in the previous year, red is in second place among bright colors (5.1%). But red is also losing popularity: in 2019 the share was 7.2% and has been steadily decreasing since then.

Rarities are yellow (0.9%; no change compared to the same period last year), orange (0.8%; –0.3 percentage points compared to the same period last year), brown (0.6 percent; –0.1 percentage points compared to the same period last year) and purple/violet, which, as in the previous year, only one in 1,000 drivers chose (0.1%).

When deciding on a color, many car buyers are probably already thinking about resale in a few years and calculate the best value for a currently very popular color, i.e. black, white and grey/silver. The choice of color is therefore subject to a self-reinforcing effect. However, as our evaluation shows, there are still developments. So we can't just be excited to see what Santa Claus will put under the Christmas tree this year, but also to see what new car color trends 2024 will bring.

*The evaluation by the Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) is based on current data from the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA). All new car registrations in Germany from January to November 2023 are taken into account. Comparisons with the previous year refer to the corresponding comparison period, i.e. January to November 2022.