The New Car Color Trend: Brighter and Bolder

Brighter, Bolder Car Colors Nudge Out Muted Tones

Situation
1. Brighter, bolder colors and paint finishes becoming more popular for vehicles
2. Greens, blues, oranges starting to offset black, gray, silver, and white
3. Trend Union Company's Colour Tool report includes specific section for automotive world
4. GM says 39% of customers go to another brand if color they want unavailable

Significant Points
1. Trend Union gives color predictions for fashion, design, autos, most other consumables
2. Color forecasting guides run 2 years in advance
3. Trend Union worked w/ VW, Renault, Citroen, Nissan, Jaguar
4. Chris Webb heads color development at General Motors
5. GM has formulated colors through 2009 model year, working on 2010

Says
"The idea is to show designers in all fields how different industries use color in inspiring ways." -- Li Edelkoort, Trend Union

"I can't claim the attention was all about the color. But the 'Hugger Orange Tricoat' played a big role in the Camaro convertible's success. It's a high-impact trend color based on a historical Camaro paint job [which first appeared in 1969]. Both the general consumer and the Camaro enthusiast totally 'got it.'" -- Chris Webb, head of color development, GM

Sourced From: Forbes Autos via MSNBC, May 24, 2007, www.automotivedigest.com