What is the most popular colour for new cars in the UK?

20th Jan 2025

Britain’s enduring preference for grey cars shows no signs of fading, with the colour maintaining its position as the most popular choice for the seventh consecutive year, according to the latest data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

In 2024, grey accounted for 27.8% of all new car registrations – its highest ever share – with 543,464 grey cars hitting British roads, marking a 6.7% increase from the previous year.

Black was the second most popular colour, followed by blue, which rose to third place – its first appearance in the top three since 2010. This shift represents the first change in the top three colours in seven years and the first non-monochromatic colour to make the podium during that time.

Together, the top three colours made up 64.5% of all new cars registered in the UK in 2024. White dropped to fourth place, falling by 7.2%, while red held steady in fifth place but saw a 4.1% decline, reaching its lowest market share since 2003.

Despite 64.5% of new cars being grey, black, or white, a total of 93 colours were available, offering a wide range of options for consumers. Green and yellow both saw increases in popularity within the top 10, with green rising by 27.7% and yellow by 0.5%.

At the other end of the spectrum, pink, maroon, and turquoise vehicles together accounted for just 747 registrations.

Reflecting the rise in popularity of environmentally-friendly vehicles, with battery electric vehicles (BEVs) making up nearly one in five registrations last year, green-coloured cars also saw growth, with 68,230 registrations – more than double the figure from 2022 and the highest since 2004.

However, grey remained the top choice for BEV buyers, with 95,463 grey electric cars joining the roads.

Grey continued to dominate across most vehicle segments, including the three bestsellers: dual purpose, supermini, and lower medium.

Black was the preferred colour for executive cars (34.2%) and luxury saloons (42.1%), while white remained the top choice for the multi-purpose vehicle segment (25.7%).

Both grey and black were the leading colours for fleet and private buyers, although businesses favoured white in third place, while private buyers added more variety, with blue coming in third.

Across the UK, the preference for grey cars was consistent in every region and county, with black being the second most popular colour in most areas, except for the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, where white claimed the second spot.

Top 10 car colours 2024

Colour	Number of registrations	Market share %	Volume change vs 2023
Grey	543,464	27.8%	6.7%
Black	423,397	21.7%	9.9%
Blue	291,928	14.9%	1.6%
White	291,629	14.9%	-7.2%
Red	136,371	7%	-4.1%
Silver	122,473	6.3%	-1.6%
Green	68,230	3.5%	27.7%
Yellow	11,944	0.6%	0.5%
Orange	10,754	0.6%	-35.5%
Bronze	5,526	0.3%	13%

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