These are the most popular car colors in Germany

Tradition and reliability, surprise and the unexpected - this is not only the case at the annual Christmas celebration with family and friends, but also in our analysis. It shows which color car buyers in Germany choose and informs about developments and new trends.

For the year 2024, which is now drawing to a close, around eight out of ten (79.5%) car buyers will opt for the colors gray/silver, black or white, as was the case last year. A total of 2,061,508 new registrations so far this year have been in one of these three colors. As in the previous year and in the same order, they occupy the top three places among the most popular car colors this year.

The most popular car color in Germany remains gray/silver, which has been in first place continuously since 2015. 33.0% of buyers chose this color. Just over one in four (26.6%) opted for a black car. Black was thus able to increase its share slightly by 0.2 points compared to the same period last year. As in the same period last year, white, in third place, accounted for just over one in five new registrations (19.9%), but its share fell slightly by 0.8 points.

Green trend continues, but blue and red lose

Among the bright colors, green once again takes third place. The green trend, which first became apparent in 2021, continues unabated. Although the newly registered 79,602 green cars only account for 3% of new registrations this year, this number increased by a whopping 20.6% compared to the same period last year. In contrast, registration numbers for blue - which is still the most popular bright car color in this country - and red, which ranks second, both fell and lost market share. Only 8.9% of registrations were blue cars compared to 9.6% in the same period last year. Registrations fell by 8.1%.

121,857 red cars have been registered so far this year, 8.8% fewer than in the same period last year. Their share of total registrations fell by 0.4 points to 4.7%. In 2019, the share was still at 7.2%, but has been steadily decreasing since then.

The following colors continue to be very rare, percentages given of total registrations: yellow (23,744 units; 0.9%), brown (16,708 units; 0.6%), orange (11,791 units; 0.5%) and purple/violet (2,918 units; 0.1%).

However, only orange saw a decline in registrations (down 42.4%), while the other colors saw a significant increase: yellow (up 7%), brown (up 5.7%), purple/violet (up 11%). Are new color trends emerging here?

While this question remains unanswered today, one thing is (almost) certain: many car buyers are already thinking about the resale in a few years' time when making their color decision and calculate the best value for a color that is currently very popular, i.e. gray/silver, black and white. This means that the choice of color is subject to a self-reinforcing effect. However, as our analysis shows, there are developments. So we can be excited not only about what can be found under the Christmas tree this year, but also what new car color trends 2025 will bring.

*The evaluation by the Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) is based on current data from the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA). All new car registrations in Germany from January to November 2024 are taken into account. Comparisons with the previous year refer to the corresponding comparison period, i.e. January to November 2023.