Grey has become the UK’s favourite new car colour for the fourth year in a row, actually increasing its dominance.

Grey was the UK’s most popular new car colour in 2021, marking its fourth consecutive year at the top

A total of 408,155 grey cars were sold in 2021; up 2.8% and accounting for a quarter (24.8%) of the market, according to figures published today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

It was followed by black, which held the top spot as the most popular car paint in the UK from 2009 to 2012 and accounted for 20.5% of passenger cars last year, while white was in third place (17.2%).

It means UK drivers were most likely to choose a monochrome car for the 11th year running. More than six in 10 (62.4%) of all new cars joining British roads in 2021 were painted in one of these shades.

Blue did, however, edge closer to the top three; increasing its sales (1.4%) for the first time in five years and hitting a total of 279,891 – just 2,638 units behind white and giving it a 17.0% market share.

Red and silver were in fifth and sixth place respectively, but saw their market shares drop slightly to 8.8% and 6.8% respectively.

In contrast, green saw a boost as drivers switched to electric vehicles in record numbers. A total of 17,927 green-wrapped cars were sold in 2021; 24.0% than in the previous year.

The data also reveals that white was the most popular shade for mini-sized and sports cars, while larger dual-purpose luxury saloons and executive cars were, as usual, most likely to be black.

At the niche end of the colour palette, gold, yellow and turquoise were the fastest-growing colours, with gold more than tripling its appeal (up 231.8%), yellow up by a third (31.3%) and turquoise up by a fifth (19.2%), although together they accounted for less than 1% of the market (0.9%).

The SMMT added that driver preference for grey comes down to a wide range of reasons; it can be a sleek and deeper tone than other shades, is well-suited to black trims and darker wheels and offers an attractive compromise between black and white, with wider resale appeal than brightly coloured cars. This makes it potentially a ‘safer’ choice, especially as it reduces the visibility of dirt more than the other shades.