20 per cent of new cars registered are white

White is the number one car colour once again, according to figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). White demand grew 2.2 per cent to 564,393 units in 2015. However, green saw the biggest uplift, with demand up 31.2 per cent to take seventh place in nation’s top 10.

Blue cars also enjoyed a resurgence in demand, with more than one in six people choosing the colour. Blue used to be the nation’s first choice of car colour in the late 1990s and, after a period of falling popularity at the start of the century, it has now seen three years of continued growth in demand.

Meanwhile, after eight years at the top between 2000 and 2008, silver continued its decline. It now makes up just over one in 10 new car registrations compared with its peak in 2004 when almost every third new car registered was silver. Overall, neutral tones continued to dominate, with black cars in second place after white and followed by grey, taking 19.4 per cent and 15.6 per cent of the market respectively.

The number of people choosing mauve cars rose by approximately a third in 2015 (30 per cent) to 12,414, taking the colour into the top 10 for the first time. New mauve cars were most likely to be seen in the West Midlands (0.88 per cent) and the Channel Islands (0.69 per cent)

Demand for green cars grew by 31.2 per cent to 28,250 units to take its highest market share (1.07 per cent) for five years. East Anglians were most partial to green at 1.35 per cent followed by those in the North (1.33 per cent), the Channel Islands and Wales (1.32 per cent).

Orange and yellow cars, meanwhile, also surged in popularity – up 25.7 per cent and 12.7 per cent respectively – with a total 30,187 people opting for the eye-catching colours. More drivers in the West Midlands chose orange than anywhere else in the country, with new yellow cars most likely to be seen on roads in the South East.