The monochroming of America by Business Insider

Using an exclusive dataset of 1.7 million car listings, this interactive reveals how vehicle colors went from a rainbow of options to a sea of gray. To assemble our database, we looked at all car listings on cargurus.com from August 2 to December 16, 2023. As recently as 2005, more than half of all automobiles on the road were painted a color other than black, white, or gray. Today, less than 20% of vehicles listed in our database are. Through the use of a scrolly interactive that is a literal bar-chart race, readers are led through the evolution of car colors. It starts in 1990, when red cars led the pack, and travels through the years to the eventual dominance of white, black and gray. This is followed by a ridgeline chart that gives a broad view of the color trends, highlighting each hue’s peak year, illustrating how colors peaked in the 80s and 90s and showing the dramatic decline of the once popular red. Finally, we explore how luxury cars still span the spectrum, with Ferraris and Lamborghinis frequently favoring bold colors, while brands that appeal to the masses are decidedly less colorful. This piece was one of four graphics-driven articles drawing from our exclusive database.