Friday, December 8, 2017

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




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