White replaces silver as the world's favourite car colour, but dark greys and browns are gaining

TROY, Mich. - Move over, silver.

After more than a decade as the world's favourite car colour, silver is falling in popularity to white. PPG Industries, the leading supplier of automotive paints, says 25 per cent of the vehicles it supplied in the 2013 model year were white, up 3 per cent from the prior year. Silver and black tied for second, with 18 per cent each.

White dominates in Europe, North America and Asia. Only in South America is silver still king.

Apple Inc., with its all-white stores and gadgets, made white a high-tech colour. The variety of whites — from flat shades to creamy pearls — is also contributing, says Jane Harrington, PPG's manager of automotive colour styling.

But if you don't relish a whiteout on the freeway, never fear. Automakers are currently scouting colours for the 2016 and 2017 model years, and Harrington is showing them some eye-popping options, from a pink-tinged bright red developed in Asia to a rich dark grey with faint green highlights.