| Two in three cars sold white or silver in colour
Despite a good number of colours and shades offered by car companies, the regal white and silver still reign supreme. It is a universal favourite. Says Shashank Srivastava, its chief general manager (marketing), "Yes, white and silver still are the most dominant colours for cars. The fast off-take of white products in the pre-owned car market is a key reason that makes white beautiful. "Though factors like fuel efficiency, the kms done, the condition in which a car is sold in the used car market, etc determine the price a used vehicle commands, for vehicle owners it is easier to find takers for standard white products as opposed to coloured cars," says N Raja, head of sales, Ford India. Swift sales in red are around seven per cent. Research shows consumers in north India are more likely to go for white cars than those in the south. Pre-owned car dealer Mahindra First Choice, for instance, registers around 35 per cent of its business from the sale of white cars. That soon went up to 10 per cent. This is confirmed by the company that leads the passenger car pack, Maruti Suzuki, and tracks changes in colour preferences across the industry. "Demand for the white colour is predominant across models. It particularly goes up in the sports utility vehicle (SUV) category. For the Endeavour, three-fourths of the sales come from this colour option," says Raja. The trend is particularly noticeable in entry-level and mid-size sedans. Little wonder then that demand for new bright-coloured options is relatively limited. Ford India registers nearly 50 percent of its sales from white cars. In fact, as a ratio, the share of white has become more than that of silver in recent years. White cars command 3-4 per cent higher value in the pre-owned car market unlike coloured vehicles. In the Estilo, over a quarter of sales come in the brown colour option. But, after the initial euphoria, demand for the option settled between five and six per cent of the total. " Used white cars are on average sold at a cost Rs 10,000-15,000 higher than coloured variants. |
Monday, 14 May 2012
Two in three cars sold white or silver in colour
