Driving the market: color
DETROIT -- For Elisha Jakubowski of Rochester, Mich., buying a car has as much to do with Martha Stewart as Jackie Stewart.
Sure, Jakubowski looks at engine size, performance, styling, and gas mileage. But if the car's not offered in a color she likes, she is moving on.
''I'm a woman. Of course, color's important," Jakubowski said.
Those who track auto trends note a recent survey: 34 percent of buyers questioned would opt for another model if they can't get their first choice in a color.
Color designers say that, after a period in the 1990s dominated by conservative, neutral colors, buyers are celebrating by expressing themselves and their individualism by buying cars with bolder colors.
Christopher Webb, exterior coloring trend designer from
Therefore, it is not much of a leap for someone to go from a blue-walled home to a blue-colored car.
Car colors ''follow lifestyle trends," said Webb. ''The average consumer is more design-savvy," he said. ''People want something unique."
It wasn't always that way. Henry Ford was credited with saying customers could have his Model T in any color they wanted, as long as it was black.
Webb said the 1980s conspicuous-consumption era featured cars in bright reds and yellows. The 1990s were more conservative, dominated by neutrals such as black and white. ''Now we're back to a period of expressing individualism," he said.
''Blue is returning as the biggest, most important color," Webb said. ''Red is important. Blue is important. You put them together and you get purple."
Sandy Mathia, color design specialist for
She also said that ''saturated pastels -- like a soft blue but not a baby blue" will be popular in the next few years. These lush pastels evoke peace and tranquility, Mathia said.
''Silvers will be taking on more color and also popular will be dark colors that are almost black," she said. ''It will be colors you look twice at. It might be dark blue or dark red. I call them head-turners."
Bolder, more daring colors, of course, look more at home on certain models. For instance, it makes sense that a fun, retro car such as the Chevy HHR would come in a color called ''sunburst orange." Don't look for that color to be offered on the Cadillac DTS.
But Webb said bold colors on some luxury brands can work. He said Cadillac offered the Escalade EXT in a bright blue for a short time and it was the top-selling color.
But Jakubowski, who was perusing a ''cypress green" Saturn Vue Green Line hybrid SUV at the recent North American International Auto in Detroit, tends to stick with safer colors.
''I learned early on that you never buy a car that's not resellable," she said.
Eyeing the green Saturn Vue, she said: ''It's pretty, but I wouldn't buy it. Not everybody would like it."
Brian Stephens of Detroit is of a different opinion.
''As long as it's not purple, you'll get the same price for it," he said.
Nick Martinez and Mohammed Bazzi of Dearborn, Mich., checked out the Generation Y models at the Scion display. Both said the brighter and bolder the colors, the better.
''You want your car to make a statement," Martinez said. ''You want people to notice you, to say, `Hey, there goes Nick."'
