Taking a Look Back at 50 Automotive Shades of Gray

As Axalta continues its year-long celebration of Gallant Gray – the 2017 Automotive Color of the Year – we thought it would be interesting to look back on the recent history of gray and a popular list of 50 shades of automotive grays.

Since 1953, Axalta has been the leading company to publish data on auto color trends and popularity in our annual Color Popularity Reports -- that’s more than 60 years’ worth of reports.

In our first edition, green ranked number one, blue was two and gray was third (all North America data in 1953). In 2016, the tables turned quite a bit. White was the worldwide number one for the sixth consecutive year. Black was second, while silver and gray tied for third. Silver, overtaken by white as world number one in 2011, continues to slide globally.

“The more things change, the more they stay the same,” said Dan Benton, Axalta Color Marketing Manager. “That’s one of reasons that led us to Gallant Gray.”

Gray has always been a winning color

Benton acknowledges that silver and gray can be close. While Gallant Gray is a luxurious color enhanced with blue and silver flakes that provide a unique sparkle effect and dark undertones for a rich finish, conventional wisdom seems to call silver “shiny” and gray “dull.” Between 2000 and 2012, “silver/gray” was the most popular color in Europe just as it was in the Asia-Pacific region from 1973-1978.

We went back about 30 years and found 50 different grays from automakers. Notice how some are even named “silver” but their color formulations put them squarely in the gray family.

And yes, I am using the correct spelling gray from our offices just outside Detroit. Technically, both are acceptable … and I’d probably use “grey” if my office was in Europe or Australia.

The list is sorted by year first used, for no particular reason.

Have a favorite name? Did we miss one you love? Let us know in the comments section.

Company	Color Name	First Year Used
FORD	SILVER	1988
FORD	SILVER FROST	1994
BMW	TITANIUM SILVER	1997
GENERAL MOTORS CORP	PEWTER	1998
TOYOTA	SILVER	1998
FORD	DARK SHADOW GREY	2000
TOYOTA	SILVER SKY	2001
TOYOTA	PHANTOM GREY	2001
VOLKSWAGEN	PLATINUM GREY	2002
FORD	SILVER BIRCH	2002
GENERAL MOTORS CORP	LIGHT TARNISHED SILVER	2003
TOYOTA	SILVER	2003
GENERAL MOTORS CORP	DARK SPIRAL GRAY	2003
GENERAL MOTORS CORP	STEALTH GREY	2004
CHRYSLER	TUNGSTEN	2004
NISSAN	RADIANT SILVER	2004
MERCEDES	IRIDIUM SILVER	2004
GENERAL MOTORS CORP	GREYSTONE	2005
INFINITI	SILVER	2005
TOYOTA	MAGNETIC GREY	2006
TOYOTA	SLATE	2006
NISSAN	PRECISION GREY	2006
CHRYSLER	SILVER STEEL	2006
NISSAN	DARK SLATE	2007
NISSAN	PLATINUM GRAPHITE	2007
HONDA	POLISHED METAL	2008
GENERAL MOTORS CORP	CARBON FLASH	2008
HONDA	URBAN TITANIUM	2008
SUBARU	DARK GRAY	2008
SUBARU	STEEL SILVER	2008
GENERAL MOTORS CORP	SILVER ICE	2009
FORD	STERLING GREY	2009
GENERAL MOTORS CORP	CYBER GREY	2009
NISSAN	GUNMETAL GREY	2009
MAZDA	LIQUID SILVER	2009
HYUNDAI	SILVER	2009
NISSAN	SAHARA STONE SILVER	2009
GENERAL MOTORS CORP	MAGNA STEEL	2010
GENERAL MOTORS CORP	DARK LABYRINTH GRAY	2010
HYUNDAI	HARBOR GRAY	2010
NISSAN	GRAPHITE BLUE	2010
TOYOTA	WINTER GRAY	2010
CHRYSLER	DARK CHARCOAL	2010
GENERAL MOTORS CORP	SHEER SILVER	2010
ACURA	GRAPHITE LUSTER	2011
HYUNDAI	TITANIUM GRAY	2011
TOYOTA	DARK STEEL	2012
HYUNDAI	IRONMAN SILVER	2012
HYUNDAI	INDIGO NIGHT	2012
GENERAL MOTORS CORP	IRIDIUM	2013