If you, a family member, or a friend bought a car in 2025, there’s an 80.4% chance it was grayscale. That means the exterior was painted some measure of white, black, gray, or silver. This is according to data from iSeeCars, which surveyed millions of cars and pulled up some stats that, sadly, remind us that people literally need more color in their lives.
2025 Ford F-150 double cab front 3/4 parked on gravelFord
How sad are the stats? Flash back 30 years ago to 1996, and we see that less than half of buyers – 47.3% to be exact – went grayscale. Back then, white was the most popular color and still is now. With 23.4% of cars bought recently being black and 25.7% being white, that means just black or white cars have 49.1% of the market.
This is exciting stuff for fans of boring colors, particularly if you like trucks: 83.5% of trucks sold in 2025 were grayscale. But what about actual colors?
Not So Great News For Silver Or Purple
Purple jeep-wrangler-moab-392-front hoodJeep
White, black, and gray are the top three colors in America, but they’re separated from silver by the color blue. For lovers of the color blue, 9.1% of cars sold in 2025 were, indeed, blue, but that’s only 1.1% higher than cars sold 30 years ago. It’s hardly a renaissance, although blue is holding out against purple, which is down from 0.7% in popularity in 1996 to a nice round 0% in 2025. Yes, a big fat goose egg.
Most Popular Car Colors by Market Share: 2025 – iSeeCars Study
Rank
Color
2025
1
White
25.7%
2
Black
23.4%
3
Gray
22.9%
4
Blue
9.1%
5
Silver
8.4%
6
Red
7.0%
7
Green
2.2%
8
Brown
0.4%
9
Beige
0.4%
10
Orange
0.3%
11
Yellow
0.1%
12
Gold
0.0%
13
Purple
0.0%
It’s hard to believe that nobody in the US bought a purple car in 2025. Although, the only memorable new purple from 2025 we can think of is Subaru’s Galaxy Purple Pearl for a special edition BRZ. Yellow and gold are the two other colors not showing up in the data, but somehow beige registered 0.4%, down from 1.6% in 1996.
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Trucks Have Become Really Boring
2026 Ford Maverick driving front 3/4 angle in whiteFord
It’s no surprise that white is the most popular color for trucks, with 33.6% of the market choosing the color perceived as best at hiding dirt and scratches. The other benefit commonly touted for white is in hot climates, where white reflects light and heat to keep the cabin cooler than dark colors.
However, the next most popular color is black at 23.4%, and that’s the worst shade for hiding dirt, scratches, and keeping occupants cool. For trucks, it’s the color red that gets in between gray and silver at 7.6%. According to the data, nobody bought a purple truck in the US, either.
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
2025 BMW M2 driving front 3/4 angle in grayBMW
Dealerships want to move what’s on the lot rather than take orders, and people are more likely to accept a grayscale color because it’s neutral, rather than committing to a bold color that requires a strong opinion. Of course, people have color preferences, but the average dealership isn’t going to carry stock that waits for a customer’s preference if it can help it.
That’s a chicken-and-egg situation, because grayscale cars have, statistically speaking, been easier to sell used, while boldly colored cars tend to wait for a buyer who wants that particular color. Still, data has shown that colorful cars might take longer to sell, but they hold their value longer.
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Some of the greatest greens of 2025.
The most interesting takeaway from the data is that gray has become more popular, while silver has become less so. Flat gray has become a bit of a trend, and it remains to be seen whether it will last. Silver used to be popular because it’s an expensive-looking color and its interaction with light can show off a car’s curves and lines, while gray and even the gray-blue that automakers have been introducing tend to mute those same curves and lines.
Source: iSeeCars
