- Colour trends reflect consumer desire for lifestyle balance; socio-economic sentiment
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North American survey results show brighter car colours may be future selection of choice
BASF has unveiled its annual automotive colour trend report , which looks 2-3 years out, based on research efforts by its team of global color design experts. The theme of the forecast, “Making Headway” indicates a movement towards more color shades than in previous years, with BASF presenting 65 new colours to automakers and designers around the world.
BASF’s new coluor offerings demonstrate how new and brighter interpretations of colours with different textures will become increasingly important to designers and consumers as people worldwide strive to highlight individual uniqueness and regain a more “human-friendly” life outside of the digitized world.
“We look to develop color spaces that capture a look that says ‘this is me’,” said Paul Czornij, Technical Manager for the BASF Colour Excellence group. “There is so much emotion and psychology attached to colour, which makes it an ideal expression of one’s image to the outside world , and it works so remarkably well with car body shapes. You can truly see innovation in action.”
BASF provides a full spectrum of colour solutions and extensive color development capabilities that enable its customers to produce cars that capture the attention and appeal of individual car owners.
North American Color Trends
In North America, cool deep and dark tone colours such as blue and brown have been refreshed from their traditional state by changes in depth and brightness. Special effect technologies, which give colours a three-dimensional quality, and matte finishes, offer a wider range of options. In addition, greens and bright yellowish green hues bring new tools for designers to entice potential car buyers. New areas focusing on texture modification are also gaining interest.
Based on a recent survey conducted by BASF, most North American consumers polled (60 percent) currently drive a neutral colour car, such as silver, black or white, but when asked what colour offerings they preferred from a selection of new colors from BASF’s trend report, nearly half of the respondents (49 percent) selected a grouping of brighter jewel-toned shades of reds and blues.
“This reflects what our colour trend research is showing for color preferences,” says Czornij. “It underscores the preference for optimism and confidence pointing toward a better future.”
Global Trends
In the Asia Pacific region, BASF’s color trend forecast reflects the region’s strong sense of its growing presence on the global stage – with themes of pride in culture and identity, independent from trends in other countries.
Neutral colours such as black, silver, gray and white will continue to dominate the Asia-Pacific market, but as original designs and personal style becomes more important to buyers, BASF predicts there will be a gradual emergence of sophisticated intermediate colors, such as olive-greens and bluish grays.
In Europe, where people have been impacted by the economic crisis and changes in energy policy, there is a tendency to move forward rationally and calmly. This results in a balance between creative, courageous colours such as red and green and calmer, neutral colours such as black and gray. Two colours that represent this shift are Particular Gray, an elegant black colour with a subtle fine metallic look, and Fiberphyllic, a bold, yellowish-green offering a more expressive coarse feel.
BASF Automotive Coatings delivers a complete coatings portfolio directly to major automotive manufacturers and their suppliers. BASF Automotive Coatings offers the advantage of a global expertise and network to meet customer requirements and quality standards worldwide.
