Japan Report: White Cars Are Losing Popularity

Once upon a time and not so long ago, it seemed that every other car in Japan was painted white. For a whole number of reasons, the Japanese like white, big time. Perhaps it has something to do with the inherent goodness of its properties.

White is a safe, bright, neutral color and it’s easy to match if you get a dent. “You can go to a funeral in a white car,” as the saying goes in Japan. It fits every social situation, causing no friction along way, and because of all that it’s been the longtime resale number one.

White was massive in Japan in the ‘80s and early ‘90s, especially at Toyota, but a recent survey reveals how the king has lost its crown. A survey by Gulliver International, a major used car group in Japan, covering 1.34 million vehicles sold between 2000 and 2006, shows that…black is the new white.

Well, almost. In 2006, black represented 27 per cent of sales, Gulliver said, just a whisker behind white at 28 per cent. Reds and blues accounted for 21 per cent (down from 47 per cent in 1995). In the modern era, the Gulliver number crunchers calculated that black, silver and white represent 75 per cent of sales.

So give credit to Mazda, for one, for bucking the trend by making metallic green the theme color for the rated new Mazda2 (known as the Demio in Japan). Smart move?