White and silver remain the colour of choice among Indian consumers while purchasing cars despite a host of other options. Moreover, this figure is only increasing in the country, as 62-70 per cent of the buyers now opt for vehicles in these two colours as compared to 50 per cent five years ago.
Maruti Suzuki's Chief General Manager - Marketing, Shashank Srivastava, agreed, “Yes, white and silver still are the most dominant colours for cars. In fact, as a ratio, the share of white has become more than that of silver in recent years.” Reportedly, there are more white diesel cars than petrol ones in India. On this, Srivastava said, “Since these cars are used for travelling long distances, they are replaced frequently and it is easier to find buyers for a colour with universal appeal.”
The dominance of white colour in the car market of India is also because of easy availability of vehicles in this hue. Regarding this, N. Raja, Head, Sales, Ford India, commented, “Though factors like fuel efficiency, the kms done, the condition in which a car is sold in the used car market, etc. determine the price a used vehicle commands, for vehicle owners it is easier to find takers for standard white products as compared to coloured cars.”
35 per cent of pre-owned cars sold by Mahindra First Choice are white in colour, while 50 per cent of the new cars rolled out by Ford are in the same hue. “In the absence of their preferred bright colour, most buyers tend to settle for white. It is a universal favourite. White cars command 3-4 per cent higher value in the pre-owned car market as compared to coloured vehicles,” Hiten Ghelani, Vice President (Retail Operations), Mahindra First Choice. The price of prior owned cars in white colour is approximately Rs. 10,000-15,000 more than that of coloured models.
Speaking about the ratio of colours in cars sold by Ford, Raja commented, “Demand for the white colour is predominant across models. It particularly goes up in the sports utility vehicle (SUV) category. For the Endeavour, three-fourths of the sales come from this colour option.”
For some models, for example Maruti 800 and Chevrolet Beat, white coloured option is cheaper than the coloured variant. While the former costs around Rs. 2,400 less than its coloured counterparts, the latter's price is lower by Rs. 5000. Moreover, the demand for coloured options is high in case of certain models like Maruti Suzuki Swift, which is sold mostly in red. Likewise, 25 per cent of the buyers prefer brown colour while purchasing the company's Estilo.
