Elsewhere, white missed out on the podium, making up 13 per cent of sales and suffering a nine per cent slump in popularity; fewer people chose a red car, too, with the shade dropping from fifth to sixth-most popular. It’s turquoise that’s the UK’s least-favourite colour, though (granted, very few manufacturers offer it as an option), with just 12 examples entering the roads last year.
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“UK car buyers’ preferences remain pretty consistent, with monochrome continuing to lead in popularity,” said the SMMT’s chief executive, Mike Hawes. “The surge in green, however, matches the growing popularity of electrified cars as the new-car market decarbonises.”
So why do Brits prefer monochrome colours? Speaking to Auto Express last year, senior valuations officer at CAP Hpi, Craig Bridgman, said: “As a nation, we’re quite safe with the colours we choose. Grey is a fashionable colour – especially with some manufacturers, like Audi – and it does typically hold a little more value than something more unusual.”
Despite the fact that British buyers tend to prefer relatively flashy specs on their cars – i.e. tinted windows and larger wheels – we are more conservative in terms of colour, steering away from brighter shades such as pink and turquoise.
“If you had two identical cars – one grey and one brown – the former could sell within a few weeks, while the other could take a few months,” Bridgman continued. “[Furthermore], if you had two mainstream used cars (circa £15,000) with one in grey and another in brown, the latter could suffer anything between £300-500 in terms of resale value.”
Top 10 car colours in 2025
Grey – 27.6%
Black – 23%
Blue – 15.2%
White – 13.1%
Silver – 6.3%
Red – 5.8%
Green – 4.9%
Yellow – 0.5%
Orange – 0.5%
Mauve – 0.3%
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