Car Colors by Manufacturer
Browse every exterior paint color offered by 26 major brands, plus what the data says about which colors hold their value and how to find your car’s exact paint code.
Pick a manufacturer
Each page lists the exterior colors offered for that brand, including the official color name and the paint code where available.
26 brands
Acura- Buick
- Cadillac
- Chevrolet
- Chrysler
- Dodge
- Ford
- Genesis
- GMC
- Honda
- Hyundai
- Infiniti
- Jeep
- Kia
- Lexus
- Lincoln
- Mazda
- Mini
- Mitsubishi
- Nissan
- Ram
- Subaru
- Tesla
- Toyota
- Volkswagen
- Volvo
The most popular car colors right now
Three neutrals account for roughly three out of every four new vehicles built worldwide. Here is the global breakdown from Axalta’s 2025 Global Automotive Color Popularity Report, the longest-running color study in the industry.
Global share of new vehicle builds. Percentages are rounded, so they will not total exactly 100. Source: Axalta 2025 Global Automotive Color Popularity Report.
It looks different depending on where you live
North America
White leads at 31%, but this is the boldest neutral market on the list. Blue is up to 10% and red to 7%, which is well above the global average for both.
Europe
Gray edges out white for the top spot at 26% versus 25%, with black close behind at 22%. Europe is the one major region where gray wins.
Asia
Black climbs to 26%, but expressive colors are growing fastest here. Yellow and gold hit 4%, green 3%, and orange and purple 2% as EV brands use color for identity.
South America
The most white-dominant region at 35%, largely for heat reflection in warm climates. Silver is unusually strong at 14% and gray sits at 23%.
Which car colors hold their value best?
iSeeCars analyzed over 2.1 million three-year-old used cars to measure how much value each paint color retained. The average car lost 33.1% of its value over three years. The gap between the best and worst color was about ten percentage points, which on a $40,000 vehicle works out to roughly $4,000.
| Color | 3-Year Depreciation | vs. Average Car |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | 27.0% | 18.5% better |
| Orange | 30.6% | 7.8% better |
| Green | 30.9% | 6.9% better |
| White | 32.6% | 1.6% better |
| Red | 32.7% | 1.4% better |
| Average car | 33.1% | — |
| Blue | 33.5% | 1.0% worse |
| Brown | 33.5% | 1.1% worse |
| Gray | 33.5% | 1.2% worse |
| Black | 33.6% | 1.6% worse |
| Silver | 34.0% | 2.6% worse |
| Beige | 36.6% | 10.3% worse |
| Purple | 36.7% | 10.7% worse |
| Gold | 37.1% | 12.1% worse |
The takeaway cuts both ways. If you are buying new and plan to sell in a few years, yellow, orange and green retain value best because supply is thin and demand is steady. Together those three make up only about 1.2% of three-year-old cars on the market.
If you are buying used, the reverse is your friend. Gold, purple and beige cars have already absorbed a bigger depreciation hit, so you are buying the same vehicle for less money.
Does color affect how fast a car sells?
Barely. The average three-year-old car sells in 36.5 days, and almost every color lands within six days of that. Beige is the notable outlier at 46.6 days. Yellow takes 41.5 days, likely because the higher retained value means a higher asking price. So color moves the price more than it moves the clock.
How to find your car’s paint code
A color name like “Modern Steel Metallic” is marketing. The paint code is the part that matters when you are ordering touch-up paint or having a panel resprayed. It is usually two to four characters, printed on a sticker somewhere on the vehicle.
Driver’s door jamb
The most common spot. Open the driver’s door and look at the sticker on the frame or the edge of the door itself. Look for a line labeled Paint, Color, C/TR, or EXT PNT.
Under the hood
Common on Ford, GM and Chrysler products. Check the radiator support, the underside of the hood, or the strut tower area for a service parts identification sticker.
Trunk or spare tire well
Some brands put the sticker under the trunk mat, on the trunk lid, or inside the spare tire compartment. Worth checking if the door jamb comes up empty.
Glove box or owner’s manual
A few manufacturers place the label inside the glove compartment. The original window sticker or build sheet, if you still have it, will also list the color.
Watch out for the two-tone entries. Codes like C/TR: NH-830M / YR-437L list exterior and interior separately. The first code is the body color, the second is the interior trim.
Also note that a VIN alone does not always decode to a paint code. Some manufacturers include it, many do not. The sticker is the reliable source.
Color name vs. paint code: what’s the difference?
Manufacturers give every paint two identities. The color name is what appears in the brochure and on the configurator: Crystal Black Pearl, Magnetic Gray Metallic, Rapid Red Metallic. Names are chosen by marketing, they change between model years, and different brands reuse similar-sounding names for genuinely different paints.
The paint code is the manufacturer’s internal identifier for a specific paint formula. Honda’s Crystal Black Pearl is NH-731P. Toyota’s Midnight Black Metallic is 218. Ford’s Oxford White is YZ or Z1 depending on the year. The code is what a paint supplier actually mixes from.
This distinction matters most for touch-up. Two model years can share a color name while using slightly different formulas, and ordering by name alone is how you end up with a repair that does not quite match in sunlight. Always order by code.
One more wrinkle: even with the correct code, paint fades over time. A body shop will often blend the new paint into adjacent panels rather than spraying a hard edge, so the transition is invisible. That is normal practice, not a sign of a bad match.
How to actually choose a color
Maintenance reality
Black shows every swirl mark, water spot and speck of dust, and it is the hardest color to keep looking new. White and silver hide dirt and light scratches best. Mid-tone grays are the practical middle ground.
Heat
Dark paint absorbs noticeably more heat than light paint. In hot climates this is a real daily comfort difference, and it is a large part of why white dominates in South America and the southern US.
Repair cost
Not all paints cost the same to fix. Tri-coat pearls, matte finishes and specialty reds require more material and more labor than a standard metallic. Ask before you option it.
Availability
Rare colors hold value better, but they also mean a longer search or a factory order. If you need a car this month, the popular neutrals are what is sitting on lots.
Common questions
What is the most popular car color in the world?
White, at 29% of new vehicles built globally. Black is second at 23% and gray is third at 22%. Those three colors combined account for about 74% of the market.
Which car color holds its value best?
Yellow. Over three years, yellow cars depreciate 27.0% compared to the 33.1% average, which is 18.5% better than the typical vehicle. Orange and green follow. The main driver is scarcity: yellow, orange and green together make up only about 1.2% of three-year-old used cars, so demand outstrips supply.
Which car color loses the most value?
Gold, at 37.1% depreciation over three years, followed by purple at 36.7% and beige at 36.6%. All three are more than 10% worse than the average car. Notably this is not just a rarity effect, since gold performs poorly across nearly every body style.
Where is the paint code on my car?
Most often on a sticker in the driver’s door jamb. If it is not there, check under the hood on the radiator support, inside the trunk or spare tire well, or in the glove box. Look for a field labeled Paint, Color, C/TR, or EXT PNT.
Do black cars really get hotter?
Yes. Dark paint absorbs more solar radiation than light paint, so the body panels and cabin heat up faster and reach higher temperatures when parked in the sun. The effect is significant enough that it visibly shapes color preferences in hot regions, where white share runs several points above the global average.
Does a car’s color affect how quickly it sells?
Not much. The average three-year-old car takes 36.5 days to sell, and nearly every color falls within six days of that. Beige is the slowest at 46.6 days. Color has a much bigger effect on price than on how long a car sits.
Is a two-tone or special paint worth the extra cost?
It depends on what you value. Premium finishes can help a car stand out in a crowded used market, but they also cost more up front and more to repair. Tri-coat pearls and matte finishes in particular require extra material and labor at a body shop.
Sources: Axalta, 2025 Global Automotive Color Popularity Report (73rd annual edition, published December 2025) · iSeeCars, Car Colors: Which Should You Buy? (analysis of 2.1M+ three-year-old used cars).