Skip to content
Britain’s Top New Car Colour 2024

Britain’s Top New Car Colour 2024

Grey remains Britain’s top new car colour with blue bouncing up the charts according to the latest figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

For the seventh year running, grey secures its first-place podium spot as Britain’s most popular new car colour with its best ever number! More than a quarter (27.8%) of all new car registrations in 2024 were grey with 543,464 grey cars joining the roads, up 6.7% on 2023. Black holds steady in second for the seventh year with blue taking the third-place spot for the first time since 2010!

Other colours to note as pink remains Britain’s least popular car colour, comprising just 0.007% of all registrations, down 31.0% on 2023. With green car volumes reaching the highest number since 2004, reflecting ‘green’ powertrain trend and Axalta's previously announced Colour of the Year. White dropped to fourth, falling by -7.2%, while red held firm in fifth place despite a -4.1% drop, reaching its lowest market share since 2003.

The top three colours made up 64.5% of all new cars joining our roads in 2024. This year marks the first variation to the top three with blue becoming the first non-monochromatic colour to enter the podium in seven years.

"While 2024 saw more new car buyers go green, with a record number of EVs reaching the road, the ‘face’ of the market remains familiar, with grey and black proving perennially popular. While manufacturers strive to ensure every driver can have their pick of a vast choice of paint colours and personalisation options to suit their individual tastes, it seems UK car buyers’ preferences remain steadfastly monochrome."

Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive

While grey, black, and white also represented 64.5% of new cars, a choice of 93 different colours meant that there was ample opportunity for every preference to be met. There were rises across the top 10 with green increasing by 27.7% and yellow seeing a 0.5% increase. At the other end of the scale, pink, maroon and turquoise vehicles together accounted for a mere total of 747 registrations.

Grey also showed popularity across most vehicle segments, including the three bestsellers – dual purpose, supermini, and lower medium. Black was the shade of choice for executive cars (34.2%) and luxury saloons (42.1%), while white remained the top choice for the multi-purpose segment (25.7%).

Grey and black were the top two choices for both fleet and private buyers, however, while white ranked third for businesses, private consumers added a splash more colour with blue.

Data reports, for the seventh consecutive year, that Britain makes clear their preference for grey motors. 

Car colour facts from SMMT's report:

  • The nation’s least favourite car colour was pink, down on 2023 by 31.0%, with just 145 registrations of the tint.
  • 10,754 buyers opted for orange, down -35.5% on 2023, with West Yorkshire home to the majority at 719 units.
  • Registrations of green cars recorded the fastest rate of growth since 2004 up more than a quarter (27.7%).
  • Yellow-coloured vehicles ranked eighth, marking the colour’s first time in the top 10 since 2016.
  • Red recorded its lowest market share since the millennium, with just seven in every 100 buyers speccing the colour – compared with six in 50 when it was at peak popularity in 2014.
  • Black recorded its highest volume since 2019, with 423,397 cars joining the road in 2024.
  • Turquoise proved the most spurned colour, dropping from 3,627 registrations in 2023 to just 362 last year – marking the colour’s steepest recorded decline and its lowest performance since 2002.

Additional Notes

  • Registered grey cars, 2023: 509,193 units
  • Top three coloured cars, 2010: Black, silver and blue
  • Grey, black and blue registered volumes, 2024: 1,258,789 units
  • Registered red cars, 2023: 142,179 units; Red market share, 2003: 0.7% or 243,270 registrations
  • Green registered cars, 2004:118,633 units; Green registered cars, 2022: 31,220 units
  • Red car market share, 2000: 10.8%

Image credits: SMMT

Next article Axalta 2025 Global Automotive Colour of the Year