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Silver is the new white

We've all heard designers proclaim brown is the new black, but now leading insurer elephant.co.uk has proved that silver is the new white; at least when it comes to the choice of car colour.

elephant.co.uk looked at the most popular car colours over the last 10 years (1994-2004), and discovered that whilst red and blue remained the most popular colours over that period, silver has jumped up the ratings, as white has plummeted down the list. In fact, in 2004 silver replaced red as the 2nd most popular car colour in the UK behind blue, having been the 6th most popular in 1994.

When looking at the figures more closely, elephant.co.uk noticed that the main change has come in the past 5 years. Across the UK, between 1999 and 2004, the number of silver cars being insured rose by 11%, while the number of white cars fell by 10%.

elephant.co.uk managing director, Tanzie Oliver, commented:
"Silver has become more popular for all consumer goods, including cars, due to its smart look. Televisions and music systems in silver now dominate electrical shops. Even white goods, such as washing machines and fridges, are being sold more and more in silver, as white looks a bit dated. Some police forces have even replaced white patrol cars with silver ones, as they retain their value longer and don't show dirt easily.

"The least popular colours over the last 10 years have been yellow, brown and purple, but who knows if they follow the trend set by silver, in 2015, we could all be driving yellow cars!"

The figures for the past 10 years can be seen in the tables below:

Issue date: 02-02-05