We keep a database of 32,465 factory paint colors, each with its OEM paint code and model years, across 65 makes and 878 models. This page turns that data into simple statistics. It counts distinct factory shades, not cars sold, so it shows what manufacturers have offered rather than what buyers chose.
Which color families have the most shades
Blue is the family with the most distinct factory shades, at 17.8% of all colors, ahead of green and red. White and black have far fewer: brands tend to offer a few whites and blacks and keep them for years, while they keep releasing new blues, greens and reds. That is a statement about variety, not popularity. White and black are usually among the best-selling colors even though they have fewer distinct shades.
Colors whose names do not clearly belong to one family (for example, a name that is only a place or a trim) are left out of the chart. They make up 16.6% of the data.
How new factory colors have shifted by decade
The table shows what share of the newly introduced color names in each decade fall into each family. Gray has roughly doubled its share since the 1990s, silver peaked in the 2000s and has fallen back since, and red has declined from decade to decade. The 2020s column covers only the years up to 2026.
| Decade | New colors | White | Black | Silver | Gray | Blue | Red |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 4,354 | 5.9% | 4.5% | 6.8% | 8% | 15.4% | 12.6% |
| 1990s | 5,119 | 6.8% | 4.4% | 7.6% | 6.1% | 18.9% | 12.5% |
| 2000s | 5,036 | 6.7% | 7.3% | 10.4% | 8.7% | 17.8% | 11.1% |
| 2010s | 4,868 | 6.4% | 7.7% | 8.6% | 10% | 15.7% | 10.5% |
| 2020s | 2,694 | 6.2% | 6.8% | 6.2% | 12.7% | 16.1% | 7.6% |
Which brands have the most factory colors
Brands with long histories and many models dominate the top of the list. Each brand name links to its full paint code list.
| Brand | Unique colors | Models | Years covered | Biggest families |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GM | 2,156 | 1 | 1956–2025 | Blue 19%, Green 12% |
| Ford | 1,923 | 63 | 1933–2026 | Blue 18%, Green 13% |
| Chevrolet | 1,821 | 61 | 1930–2026 | Blue 19%, Green 12% |
| Chrysler | 1,369 | 15 | 1932–2026 | Blue 17%, Red 12% |
| Dodge | 1,322 | 36 | 1928–2026 | Blue 17%, Red 13% |
| Toyota | 1,260 | 44 | 1966–2026 | Blue 19%, Red 10% |
| Cadillac | 1,013 | 28 | 1934–2026 | Blue 19%, Green 14% |
| Mercedes | 996 | 37 | 1955–2026 | Blue 16%, Gray 13% |
| Pontiac | 931 | 20 | 1929–2010 | Blue 21%, Green 14% |
| Buick | 888 | 20 | 1933–2026 | Blue 19%, Green 12% |
| Volkswagen | 869 | 23 | 1949–2026 | Blue 23%, Green 14% |
| Porsche | 865 | 21 | 1959–2026 | Blue 17%, Green 14% |
| Renault | 825 | 27 | 1950–2017 | Blue 10%, Brown/Beige 7% |
| Nissan | 818 | 41 | 1979–2026 | Blue 18%, Gray 11% |
| Honda | 816 | 25 | 1972–2026 | Blue 20%, Red 13% |
| Fiat | 764 | 3 | 1952–2025 | Red 14%, Blue 7% |
| Hyundai | 720 | 24 | 1975–2026 | Blue 19%, Silver 13% |
| Lincoln | 710 | 22 | 1940–2026 | Blue 16%, Green 12% |
| Oldsmobile | 676 | 1 | 1928–2004 | Blue 18%, Brown/Beige 13% |
| Mercury | 652 | 7 | 1949–2001 | Blue 20%, Green 13% |
Color names used by the most brands
Some names show up almost everywhere. These are the color names that appear in the catalogs of the most different makes.
- Black: used by 52 of 65 makes
- White: used by 45 of 65 makes
- Silver: used by 45 of 65 makes
- Midnight Blue: used by 44 of 65 makes
- Red: used by 38 of 65 makes
- Dark Blue: used by 38 of 65 makes
- Dark Green: used by 37 of 65 makes
- Blue: used by 37 of 65 makes
The longest-running factory colors
A few colors have stayed in a brand's catalog for generations. These are the colors with the longest span between their first and last model year in our data.
| Brand | Color | Years | Span |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chevrolet | Black | 1930–2026 | 97 yrs |
| Dodge | Black | 1935–2024 | 90 yrs |
| Chevrolet | Admiral Blue | 1934–2019 | 86 yrs |
| Dodge | Gunmetal | 1935–2018 | 84 yrs |
| GMC | Cypress Green | 1934–2016 | 83 yrs |
| Pontiac | Black | 1929–2010 | 82 yrs |
| Chevrolet | White | 1934–2015 | 82 yrs |
| Buick | Black | 1933–2014 | 82 yrs |
| Oldsmobile | Black | 1928–2004 | 77 yrs |
| GMC | White | 1934–2009 | 76 yrs |
A long span means the color name appears in the records across that period. The formula and code behind a name can change over the years.
Method and limits
- Source. Our color code database is compiled from public reference listings (chiefly the ChipFixx paint-code catalog) and reduced to factual fields only: make, model, color name, paint code and model years. See About for details.
- What counts as a color. One unique color is one color name plus its primary paint code within a make, so the same color used on several models counts once for that brand.
- Color families. We group colors by keywords in their names (for example “Oxford White” counts as white, “Midnight Blue” as blue). This is an approximation, and names do not always describe the actual shade.
- Decades. A color is assigned to the decade of the first model year it appears in for that brand. The 2020s are incomplete.
- Coverage. Reference lists can contain gaps and errors. This is a record of factory offerings, not sales or registration data.
Download and cite the data
You are welcome to use these figures in articles, videos and research. The summary statistics on this page and in the downloads below are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0): free to share and adapt, as long as you credit AutoColorCode with a link. The summary tables are free to download:
Need a specific code? Look up your car's factory paint code by make, model and year.