Why Grey Maintains Dominance and Green Surges in Swansway's Car Colour Trends

Car Colour Trend Changes Over Time

Over the past decade, the popularity of grey has grown significantly across the Group, with sales volumes increasing 168%, demonstrating a long term move towards understated, modern finishes among car buyers. While grey continues to lead, the latest figures reveal notable movement across the wider colour market.

Green recorded the strongest growth in 2025, with sales increasing by 94% year on year, more than double the national average growth rate of 46%. The rise suggests increasing consumer confidence in more distinctive colour choices, particularly as newer vehicle designs and electrified models introduce broader paint options. In contrast, red experienced the largest decline among the top 10 vehicle colours, falling by 12% compared with 2024, while silver, once a dominant choice across UK forecourts, has seen a sustained long term decline, with sales dropping 36% over the past 10 years.

Across Swansway’s 2025 retail sales, neutral tones continued to dominate overall customer preference, with black accounting for 25.4% of sales, followed by blue (15.6%) and white (15.3%). Brighter colours such as orange, yellow and purple collectively represented less than 1% of total sales.