Global Color Studies Show Customer Preference In Autos

DETROIT (WWJ) - Despite an array of bright, vibrant car colors, U.S. customers on the coasts and customers in most European countries prefer the classic core colors - white, black, silver and gray.

Gray and silver are most popular in New York and Los Angeles. San Franciscans like white and Bostonians like black. Red is popular in the Midwest. Drivers in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Pittsburgh like green. And Phoenix and Miami customers like warm colors - orange and gold.

Across the ocean, tastes tend to be equally as diverse. French and Italian motorists like cream-colored vehicles. The Irish like silver. Customers in Denmark prefer black, while those in Belgium like gray. The Czech Republic chooses blue.

Vehicle owners everywhere use color choice to convey messages about themselves, according to Julie Francis, of the European Color and Materials team.

"There is something very personal to buyers about the color of their cars," Francis said in a release. "When you look at the culture, you can see how fashion and other tastes influence the colors customers choose."        

The findings are from Ford Motor Company's annual look at U.S. car buying preferences, as well as an international color study by Du Pont.

Since Detroit wasn't mentioned in the study, we want to know what you think.