Short answer
Yes, by body style, and the best evidence is a registry count. Among Germany's 2.6 million new cars in 2021, about a third of small cars were a colour other than white, grey or black, while black alone took 41% of upper mid-size cars and 44% of the luxury segment. US used-car data show the same split, with sports cars the most colourful type. For electric cars there is much less: UK figures name grey as the leading colour of battery electric cars but no source publishes their full colour mix.
The German Federal Motor Transport Authority counts every new passenger car by the colour group on its registration document, and for 2021 it published the count by segment. Across all 2,622,132 cars grey led with 29.8%, then black at 24.7% and white at 21.5%. The segments differ widely. Among city cars a third were white and 11.0% red. Small cars had the widest spread, with 32.5% neither white, grey nor black, including 12.9% blue and 11.7% red. From the compact class upwards colour drains out: red falls to 3.1% of mid-size cars and 1.2% of the upper mid-size class, where black reaches 40.9%; in the luxury segment black is 44.0%. Sports cars are the exception among expensive cars, with 9.4% red and the highest green share of any segment at 5.5%. SUVs, the largest segment with 667,096 cars, sit close to the national average.
The authority's text gives 44.1% black for the luxury segment and its table 44.0%; the table is used here. Its colour groups have no separate silver, so 'grey' is broader than in the paint suppliers' reports.
A US listings company's analysis of more than 22 million used cars sold between January 2025 and May 2026 gives colour share by model year and vehicle type. Among model-year 2025 vehicles, white, black, grey and silver together made up 83.5% of pickup trucks, 80.7% of passenger cars, 79.3% of SUVs and 63.6% of sports cars. White led trucks at 33.6%, more than one in three. Grey led passenger cars at 28.4%. Sports cars kept 36.2% in other colours, with blue at 15.5% and red at 10.8%. The same analysis compares these with surviving model-year 1996 vehicles: the four neutrals rose from 43.4% to 83.5% of trucks and from 43.8% to 79.3% of SUVs, but only from 55.0% to 63.6% of sports cars. The 1996 figures describe thirty-year-old cars still being resold, so they are a rough guide to what was built then.
The UK trade association's annual release covers all new car registrations. For 2025 it reports grey at 27.6% of 2,020,520 cars, black at 23.0%, blue at 15.2% and white at 13.1%. On segments and powertrains it gives only the winner: grey came top in most segments, buyers of executive cars and luxury saloons preferred black, and blue led the mini segment — which matches the German pattern of black at the top of the market and colour at the bottom. Grey was the most common colour for most powertrains, including battery electric cars, of which 131,984 were grey; plug-in hybrids were most often black. Green battery electric cars almost doubled to 23,249. Without the number of electric cars in each colour, none of this shows whether electric cars are more or less colourful than petrol ones.
The same UK release gives one figure for light commercial vehicles: white was the colour of 60.2% of new vans up to 3.5 tonnes in 2025, followed by grey and black. That is more than four times white's share of new cars, and fits a vehicle bought by businesses that add their own lettering. For motorhomes there is nothing usable. The German report includes a motorhome row, but notes that colour is usually not entered for these vehicles, and its colour columns account for under a quarter of the 79,592 registered. Colourwise found no published colour shares for motorcycles, bicycles or boats, and the UK government's vehicle licensing tables that were checked contain no colour field. The record that makes car colour so well documented stops at the passenger car.
The registries count colours; they do not record who chose them or why. A plausible reading is that the buyer changes along with the car. Small cars are bought more often by private owners for themselves, and are offered in bright launch colours. Executive and luxury saloons are in large part company and chauffeur cars, where black is a convention of formality. Pickups and vans are working vehicles, often bought in bulk, and white is the base colour that takes a livery. Sports cars are bought to be seen. This matches the paint suppliers' own remarks about fleets and luxury finishes, but none of the sources splits registrations by private and business keeper together with colour, so it remains Colourwise's interpretation of the pattern.
| Segment | Registrations | White | Grey | Black | Blue | Red | Green | White + grey + black |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mini (city cars) | 168,934 | 33.7 | 18.3 | 19.6 | 10.8 | 11 | 2.3 | 71.6 |
| Small cars | 374,722 | 23.3 | 24.3 | 19.9 | 12.9 | 11.7 | 2.5 | 67.5 |
| Compact | 459,977 | 23.1 | 34.4 | 24.3 | 10.3 | 5.2 | 0.8 | 81.8 |
| Mid-size | 269,340 | 22 | 32.5 | 30.3 | 10.2 | 3.1 | 0.8 | 84.8 |
| Upper mid-size | 76,897 | 12.1 | 32.7 | 40.9 | 10.2 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 85.7 |
| Luxury | 24,826 | 12.5 | 29.9 | 44 | 7.1 | 2.5 | 2.2 | 86.4 |
| Sports cars | 26,654 | 14.3 | 29.3 | 28.3 | 9.8 | 9.4 | 5.5 | 71.9 |
| Mini-vans | 26,944 | 22.8 | 32.7 | 19.3 | 16 | 6.2 | 1.7 | 74.8 |
| Large vans (MPVs) | 46,294 | 17.5 | 37.8 | 24.8 | 12.9 | 4.1 | 0.2 | 80.1 |
| SUVs | 667,096 | 19.9 | 33 | 22.9 | 11.1 | 7.8 | 2.2 | 75.8 |
| Off-road vehicles | 280,753 | 18.3 | 30 | 37.1 | 9.6 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 85.4 |
| Utilities | 102,864 | 25.3 | 32.9 | 16.5 | 9.2 | 5.4 | 1.3 | 74.7 |
| All new passenger cars | 2,622,132 | 21.5 | 29.8 | 24.7 | 10.6 | 6.3 | 1.7 | 76 |
| Vehicle type | Model year 2025 | Model year 1996 | Leading colour, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pickup trucks | 83.5% | 43.4% | White (33.6%) |
| Passenger cars | 80.7% | 50.3% | Grey (28.4%) |
| SUVs | 79.3% | 43.8% | White (25.1%) |
| Sports cars | 63.6% | 55.0% | Grey (21.2%) |
| All vehicles | 80.4% | 47.3% | White (25.7%) |
| Year | Registrations | White | Grey | Black | Blue | Red | Green |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 3,036,773 | 19.6 | 27.2 | 27.8 | 8.7 | 6 | 1.1 |
| 2019 | 3,607,258 | 20.6 | 30.3 | 24.8 | 10.9 | 7.2 | 1.1 |
| 2021 | 2,622,132 | 21.5 | 29.8 | 24.7 | 10.6 | 6.3 | 1.7 |
| 2023 | 2,844,609 | 20.7 | 31.6 | 26.5 | 9.6 | 5.1 | 2.6 |
Why: The UK release reports growth in one colour and the leading colour, not the share of each colour among electric cars.
Fix: Quote the counts that are published and say that no source gives the full colour mix by powertrain.
Why: The registry's colour groups are broad and have no separate silver.
Fix: Compare the registry with itself across segments or years, not with reports that split grey and silver.
Why: Manufacturers offer different colour lists on different models, and business buyers order to a policy.
Fix: Describe it as what was registered in the segment, and keep explanations labelled as interpretation.
Each statement is labelled by kind — established fact, a standard’s requirement, observed market data, a convention, or Colourwise’s own interpretation or analysis — with the strength of the evidence behind it.
Observed market dataStrong evidence· Germany· 2021
Of the new passenger cars registered in Germany in 2021, black accounted for 44.0% of the luxury segment and 40.9% of the upper mid-size segment, against 19.6% of city cars and 24.7% of all cars.
Measured: All 2,622,132 new passenger car registrations in 2021, by KBA segment. Method: Official registry count by colour group on the registration document
Caveat: One country and one year. Colour groups are broad and include no separate silver; no later segment table was found.
Source: Neuzulassungen im Jahr 2021 nach Farben: Kurzbericht (new registrations by colour, 2021)
Observed market dataStrong evidence· Germany· 2021
In the same count, 32.5% of small cars were neither white, grey nor black, the widest colour spread of any segment, and sports cars had the highest share of green at 5.5%.
Measured: New passenger car registrations in 2021, small-car and sports-car segments.
Caveat: Segment definitions are the German authority's own and do not map exactly onto other countries' classes.
Source: Neuzulassungen im Jahr 2021 nach Farben: Kurzbericht (new registrations by colour, 2021)
Observed market dataModerate evidence· United States· Model year 2025
Among model-year 2025 vehicles in iSeeCars' US used-car data, white, black, grey and silver made up 83.5% of pickup trucks, 80.7% of passenger cars, 79.3% of SUVs and 63.6% of sports cars.
Measured: Used cars of model years 1996–2025 sold between January 2025 and May 2026, by vehicle type. Method: Colour share by model year in a listings company's sales data
Caveat: Nearly new cars already resold are not a random sample of what was built, and the vehicle-type definitions are the company's own.
Observed market dataModerate evidence· United Kingdom· 2025
In UK new registrations for 2025, grey was the most popular colour for most powertrains including battery electric cars (131,984 grey), plug-in hybrids were most often black, and white was the colour of 60.2% of new vans.
Measured: New car registrations (2,020,520) and new vans up to 3.5 tonnes, 2025.
Caveat: Only leading colours are named for segments and powertrains; the release gives no distribution and no method note.
Source: Grey in the fast lane as green powers up in Britain's top new car colours
Colourwise analysisStrong evidence
Grey rose from 27.2% of new German passenger cars in 2014 to 31.6% in 2023, while black fell from 27.8% to 26.5% and green rose from 1.1% to 2.6%.
Based on: Shares calculated by Colourwise from the registry's annual counts by colour group and its annual totals; see the series table.
Caveat: Six published colour groups only; the remainder of each year's total is not itemised.
Source: Neuzulassungen von Personenkraftwagen in den Jahren 2014 bis 2023 nach ausgewählten Farben
Colourwise interpretationLimited evidence
The colour differences between segments are best explained by who buys each kind of vehicle — private buyers for small cars, businesses for executive saloons, vans and pickups — and not by the body shape itself.
Based on: Colourwise's reading of the German segment table, the US vehicle-type shares and the UK van figure; no source cross-tabulates colour with private and business registration.
Caveat: Untested. Manufacturers' colour lists also differ by model, which the registries cannot separate from buyers' choices.
Reviewed 29 September 2026. Colourwise summarises its sources in its own words and does not reproduce standards text or proprietary colour data. Spotted an error? Tell us.