Fifteen Shades of Gray: How an Industry Brands Dull

Tom Appel

6 years ago

They’re almost exactly the same color, but each shade of gray has a unique name. Check them out.

Gray Crossovers — They’re almost exactly the same color, but each shade of gray has a unique name. Check them out.

The older and crankier among us have long lamented that all new cars look alike. If we’re entirely honest about it, we must concede that our grouchy acquaintances aren’t completely wrong. Certain safety and aerodynamic considerations have, to some extent, tied the hands of vehicle designers, giving them a little less leeway when it comes to shaping a modern car or truck.

I would argue that the all-cars-look-alike thing is more aptly applied to crossovers, which are expected to be just as safe and fuel efficient as other vehicles while providing generous amounts of space for people and cargo. Working within these limitations is no doubt a challenge to the automakers’ design departments.

Still, some manufacturers do a pretty nice job of designing crossovers that look distinctive in traffic and are recognizably of a brand. I give huge props to BMW in this regard.

But even if we allow that it has become difficult to distinguish some crossover models from others—at least in silhouette—there is another factor in play: color.

I recently wrote about the rapidly shrinking palette of new-car color options, noting that Americans have been largely reduced to purchasing vehicles that are white, black, or some shade that falls between those bookends. You can read that story here.

The dull-color problem is so pervasive, that nearly every compact crossover can now be had in white, light gray/silver, dark gray/silver and black. Most of these same vehicles—but not all—can usually also be had in some shade of red or blue, and something along the lines of a mint-green or light-earth tone. For the most part, that’s it. Furthermore, those non-grey-tone color options typically aren’t well inventoried by dealers. You can read why here.

An interesting problem for automaker product planners and marketing staffers is giving name to all of these anonymous and repetitious hues. To demonstrate this, we have collected am image of almost every popularly priced compact crossover in the lightest shade of grey/silver available.

You tell us if creative color naming helps us through this period of colorlessness.

If you have any thoughts on the world of car color, drop us a note. The place to leave comments is down below.

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