Reason why cars aren’t as colorful as they used to be actually runs very deep

It probably hasn’t escaped your attention that cars these days aren’t that colorful, and there’s an interesting reason for the more neutral colors.

Back in the 1950s and 1960s, there were all manner of colors available for cars and other automobiles.

Now, though, you will likely such more muted and neutral colors at dealerships, such as gray, black, white, and silver.

The Monday Morning Economist has provided an interesting theory as to why this might be the case.

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Economics has caused bright colors to disappear

According to their report, it is economics that have played a big part in the more neutral colors, not aesthetics.

Every car undergoing construction has to pass through a paint station before it is assembled.

If a manufacturer offers a wide array of colors, that means the paint station will nearly constantly be switching between them.

That process also includes having to clean equipment between batches plus managing a large inventory of paint.

By selecting just a handful of neutral colors, manufacturers can produce larger batches of those.

At the same time, they can reduce spending on all other colors.

It is cheaper to paint around 10,000 cars in the same shade of gray versus the same number from a selection of 5-10 colors.

It isn’t a particularly exciting reason, but it makes perfect sense.

The global recession is also to blame for less colorful cars

Much of the blame is also put on the 2008 economic crash.

The Monday Morning Economist references how hard this hit the automotive sector.

For example, both General Motors and Chrysler filed for bankruptcy, so it made sense that they wanted to simplify production.

Paint isn’t cheap either, so cutting down on the number of colors likely had a huge impact.

The fact that consumers would also have to watch their spending made the change even easier.

It isn’t all doom and gloom, though, as bright colors are still out there.

Supercars often carry them, but even small EVs such as the Renault 5 are coming out in bright, vibrant colors.

Perhaps one day in the future we can see a few more nice colors find their way back into our automotive lives.

For now though, a Chevrolet Malibu in gray will have to do.

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