White cars very much in fashion, as Auto Trader searches rocket

WHITE cars are very much in fashion, according to Auto Trader – with searches specifically for models in the colour skyrocketing in the last 5 years.

Previously avoided by dealers, the colour now seem to be back in fashion: second only to black in the most popular searched colours on the site.

White’s growth has been rapid too, Auto Trader reports. Searches for white have increased by up to 600 per cent in the last five years, with 18 million searches for the colour in 2012.

That means white effectively made up 20 per cent of all colour searches in 2012, and 22 per cent in the first three months of this year alone.

Searches are still dominated by the colour black, however – coming in at number one in 2012. White still beat the traditional ‘safe’ colour of silver, though, which dropped from taking up 16 per cent of searches to just 10.

Blue, red, and even brighter colours like yellow remained fairly stable though – with the sunflower-like hue still commanding one million searches.

‘White cars, once avoided by dealers and buyers alike, are clearly back in favour and research shows that they hold their secondhand value better than other colours,’ commented Auto Trader’s group director, Nathan Coe.

‘The increase in searches for white has really accelerated in the past few years, notably since cars such as the then new Ford Mondeo started appearing on the roads in white back in 2008.’

Have you filled in our Car Dealer Power survey yet? It’s a great opportunity to have your say, and you could win one of seven great prizes! Click here to enter.