Car Colors Start To Sparkle

Silver remains the most popular car color for the 10th straight year, but colors referred to as "natural" are also gaining in popularity.

"What we're seeing a lot of is a resurgence of golds and browns in the marketplace, especially the North American market," said Jane Harrington, PPG's manager of color styling, automotive coatings.

Harrington taking WWJ AutoBeat Reporter Jeff Gilbert through the same "Color Trend Show" that PPG stages for it's automotive customers.

The recession, Harrington says, is moving people away from some of the wilder color combinations.

"Y'know if you look at a vehicle it's a large purchase," said Harrington. "Next to your home, it's probably your second largest purchase. I think people are a little bit more conservative when they select a vehicle, and the color of the vehicle is part of that."

What Harrington is seeing is more use of unique variations within colors, especially paints that make vehicles seem to sparkle in the sunlight.

"Whether it be a glass flake, or a synthetic mica, we're seeing sparkle being a key part to an automotive finish now," Harrington said.

This year PPG has developed 66 color variations to show automakers. Harrington says in a typical year, the companies choose about ten per cent of the colors they see. Those colors are then adapted to meet designers needs before they actually go onto automobiles.