Next time you find yourself in a parking lot, take a look around. Do you see any color?

Chances are the vehicles are mostly some form of silver, white or black. A few may be red but chances are they're dark red. The same can be said for most vehicles in shades of blue or green – they're so dark, they're practically black.

What happened? Why did color go out of fashion?

DuPont does an Automotive Color Popularity Report each year. The results from 2010 until now did not vary significantly.

According to the 2014 report, white is the top color, earning 23 of the market share.

Black is next, with to 21 percent of the market share. Silver is third with 18 percent and gray is fourth at 14 percent.

That means cars in white, silver, black and gray represent 76 percent of the market share, according to DuPont. In other words, colorless cars account for three out of every four on the road.

Apparently colorless cars sell. While shopping for a new car, I mentioned my distaste for silver to the salesman. He said silver is actually one of the most popular colors (though I wouldn't call it a color at all).

Is silver popular because that's what people actually want? Are new car buyers actually hoping to find their chosen model in silver?

Or is silver deemed popular because it's what's on the lot and, therefore, it sells because it's available? Is it selling well because people don't want to go through the hassle or wait the time necessary to get their chosen vehicle in another color? Or are better colors just not available at all?

I'm much more of a fan of the remaining 24 percent of the market share. These colors include red (8 percent), blue (6 percent), beige or tan (6 percent), green (1 percent), yellow or gold (1 percent) and others (2 percent). Of course, as I mentioned previously, the reds, blues and greens are typically very dark. One needs to go to specialty colors or yellows to get anything that stands out.

Fortunately some car manufacturers are listening, even if they're only offering specialty colors for a few of their lines.

"In a world full of color, why should cars be just black and white?" asks Chevy color designer Krysti Murphy in the article, "Hot Hues: Chevrolet Goes Bold With Special Edition Colors," found on the website fastlane.gm.com.

I agree.

Although Chevy makes its share of colorless cars, trucks and SUVs, a couple of its lines, specifically Sonic and Camaro, are available in real colors.

The Camaro comes in deep magenta and bright yellow. The Sonic comes in a limited-edition color called dragon green. It had been available in a limited edition orange and now that color has been discontinued.

"For Sonic and Camaro, the vehicles themselves have a lot more personality and form vocabulary so they can take on the vivid colors. Additionally, we find that the consumers for both these vehicles develop strong emotional bonds with their cars, and an expressive color allows them to personalize that," Murphy writes.

Mini Coopers also come in a nice selection of colors. In addition to the standard white, black, silver and gray, they come in volcanic orange, Oxford green and a variety of different bright blues, the names of which vary according to the model.

I was disappointed to learn Volkswagen has discontinued the lime green in which the Beetle had been available. You can still get the Beetle in yellow but otherwise you're stuck with a colorless one.

Some car companies apparently don't even consider color, even a lack thereof, to be important to consumers.

Neither Ford nor Toyota, for example, include information on available colors on the "build your own" sections of their car sales websites.

Internet searches of cars for sale showed the Ford Fiesta can be found in colors such as molten orange and green envy, though.

Internet searches and observations made on the highway show the Ford Focus also comes in a mint green and a gold.

A colleague has a Toyota in a pleasing blue but I haven't seen many other Toyotas in color. I haven't seen colorful cars by other makers either. They may exist, but I have yet to see them.

I have not been able to find out why color went out of fashion in the automotive market. The topic leaves me with more questions than answers.

One such question has to do with the car as a status symbol. Who cares if you have a Mercedes or BMW if it looks like every other car on the road? Who's going to notice?

Last month, I bought a Chevy Sonic in dragon green. I guarantee others on the road will notice my car long before they notice the silver, black, white or gray Mercedes or BMW.

That fact just makes me chuckle.

Getting noticed doesn't require a lot of money. All it takes is a little color.

Johanna S. Billings

editor

Whitehall-Coplay Press

Northampton Press

Catasauqua Press