Our reporter? Fu Honglie
In today’s highly developed automobile industry, when we talk about automobile design trends, we can always think of automobile styling, interior decoration, and various functional features. Accessories. For example, sporty and muscular models have been the main design direction of car companies in recent years. In terms of interiors, the futuristic and simple style is also recognized by everyone. In fact, there is another important element in car design - color.
Picture source: Porsche official
Color can be said to be one of the main factors that determine the success of a model's appearance. Some colors have even become the logo of a certain model or a certain car company. . In fact, the color trend has been constantly changing in the long history of automobiles, starting from the splendor of the 1920s, to the depression caused by the war in the 1940s, and then to the black and white theme established in the 1980s. It is not difficult to find that behind the color gradient is the mark of the times.
Color is the projection of history
The birth date of modern automobiles is generally recognized as January 29, 1886. On this day, the German Karl Benz applied for the automobile invention to the German Patent Office. Patent application. In the following period, black car paint became the most mainstream color because it has the simplest craftsmanship and represents the solemnity of the upper class.
The time came to 1920, World War I had just ended, and European and American countries began to develop rapidly. After the economy prospered, people began to pursue enjoyment and taste. For a time, small car companies with customization businesses became "hot cakes". Customized car companies and customers dared to think and act, and created quite a few models that let them go. For example, the various cool cars that appeared in "The Great Gatsby" are not fictions in the movie, but have actually appeared.
But the artillery fire of World War II quickly interrupted the short-lived boom in automobile development. During the war, various car companies switched to military production. The colorful cars in peacetime turned into military green or khaki during the war. However, black, which symbolizes power, has been retained, and chrome-plated decoration has also been applied to the car to highlight the sense of technology and luxury.
In the following decades, metallic paint became popular, but the oil crisis that began in 1973 dealt a heavy blow to car companies. Environmental protection culture began to rise. The government promoted the relocation of heavily polluting enterprises and encouraged cars to become more fuel-efficient and green in emissions. As a result, car companies and the public began to favor colors with environmentally friendly qualities. "Earth tones" became popular during this period. The so-called earth tones are the colors that are more abundant in nature, including olive green, brown, etc.
Picture source: Nissan official
In the 1980s, as the shapes of vehicles became more modern, the colors of vehicles began to become more traditional, with more and more solid-color bodies. Until now, white, silver and black are the mainstream choices for ordinary civilian cars. There are general aesthetic factors here, and of course it is also driven by cost considerations of car companies.
White is enduring and the most popular
The research organization Axalta released its 67th annual "Global Automotive Color Popularity Report" at the beginning of this year. This is the longest-running and most extensive car color popularity statistic in the world. Not surprisingly, the most popular color in the world is still white (38%), which is the ninth consecutive year since 2011.
Black ranked second, accounting for nearly 20%; gray and silver changed their positions compared to last year, ranking third and fourth respectively; blue and red both exceeded 5%; brown and yellow They are 3% and 2% respectively; green only accounts for 1%, ranking 9th; other colors account for 1%. It can be seen that the "old three colors" consisting of white, black and gray are still the mainstream.
Picture source: BMW official
Why are white cars the most accepted and recognized by consumers around the world? First of all, the white model is simple and decent, which makes consumers have a better impression of the vehicle's appearance. Secondly, the white car body is not easy to absorb heat, and it will not be as hot as the black car interior in hot summer.
The most important thing is that as a safe color, the white body color has the highest visibility. The visibility of color refers to the degree to which colors in a certain background can be distinguished at a distance and within a long time. Since cars are moving objects, the higher the visibility, the better in terms of safety. Because white has a lighter gloss and a very high reflectivity to light, it can be quickly identified. This is one of the reasons why many consumers insist on buying white.
Colors are about to be brilliant again
The automotive color trend report released by world-renowned car paint supplier BASF in January 2020 shows that the Asia-Pacific region increasingly prefers bright and floating colors. In terms of color, Europe, the Middle East and Africa are increasingly favoring unique car paints such as violet metallic colors, while North American consumers are more interested in car paints that change colors in the sun.
In short, from a data perspective, consumers around the world are paying more and more attention to the personalization of car paint. Of course, BASF does not deny mainstream colors. For example, white will still be the mainstream color for domestic cars. However, according to historical statistical analysis, the proportion of white car paint is close to its peak and will definitely decline in the future.
Car companies with a keen sense of smell will naturally not miss this opportunity. As the consumer group becomes younger, diverse and personalized demands are coming one after another. In recent years, mass-produced cars in various unconventional colors have begun to emerge. For example, Porsche recently launched the iceberry pink Taycan, Lamborghini launched the pearl paint Urus, and so on.
Porsche said in an interview a few days ago that “the Taycan models that have been ordered so far have all been deeply personalized. In other words, every Taycan Turbo S or Taycan ?Turbo is unique. "For example, for the just-released fourth new car of the Taycan family, Porsche has added 7 optional body colors and a large number of optional interior colors to the entire series. ”
Of course, today’s personalization is no longer limited to niche models. Many civilian cars also have a tendency to “shine”. For example, the Mazda 3 Angkesaila in Crystal Soul Red Deeply rooted in the hearts of the people; the contrasting color design of Lynk & Co 02 Energy Purple and Orange makes it eye-catching from the traffic. In fact, there are too many colors for consumers to choose in this era.
Photo source: Mazda. Official
But some car owners still have doubts about the maintenance cost and value retention rate of the car. In this regard, the reporter interviewed a maintenance staff of an Audi 4S store in Tianjin. He said that "different car colors have basically different maintenance prices." Consistently, what determines the price is the type of car paint. Taking Audi as an example, the price of metallic paint is slightly higher than pearlescent paint or mica paint, because the paint mixing process is relatively complicated and the cost is high. ”
At the same time, the reporter learned from the sales staff that the choice of car color is strongly related to the age of the consumer. Most car owners over 35 years old will still choose the more conservative black, white and gray colors. At the same time, the inventory of these three color models is also the largest. Nowadays, there are more and more young car buyers, and they prefer bright colors, so the inventory of other colors is also increasing.
According to the survey, there are more and more young people buying cars. Regarding the value retention rate of color models, the reporter visited second-hand car malls in Tianjin. Second-hand car dealers generally said that compared with previous years, cars with personalized colors are appearing more and more in the second-hand car market. At the same time, second-hand cars are being purchased. There are also more and more young people, and even some models with special colors have become hot commodities."
It can be seen that maintenance costs and value retention rates are no longer a stumbling block to the development trend of car colors. With the development of society, more diverse cultures are being integrated into our lives. As BASF’s research analysis shows, the automotive world may be more colorful.
This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.