Have car designers got the blues?
If the gleaming cars on show at this year’s Paris Motor Show are a true reflection of the automotive mood, then designers seem to be feeling blue.
The Paris Motor Show’s wealth of new models and concepts prove that confidence is returning to the European car market. However, if the gleaming cars on show at this year’s event are a true reflection of the automotive mood, then designers still seem to be feeling blue.
DON’T MISS: PARIS MOTOR SHOW 2014: 10 MUST-SEE CARS
Toyota C-HR Concept
Quite literally. Take a look at pretty much any stand at this year’s event, currently dazzling the crowds at the Expo centre in Porte des Versailles in Paris and the color is everywhere.
Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe
Whether it’s the Rolls-Royce stand, Dacia’s display or any manufacturer in between, it would appear that blue is set for resurgence in 2015.
Lamborghini Asterion LPI 910-4
Even Lamborghini, a company famed for its love of bright oranges, yellows, greens and reds was a vision of restraint at this year’s show.
Its new concept, the Asterion, which will quite possibly go down as the star of this year’s show, was as impressive for its rich blue exterior finish as for its incredible hybrid engine.
Volkswagen XL Sport
Likewise, VW’s crazy Ducati-powered concept track car, the XL1 Sport and the new Audi TT Roadster all radiated a strong metallic blue hue.
The Audi TTS Roadster
A quick head count at each stand suggests at least 16 new models and concepts from the major manufacturers are sporting the color at this year’s event. And, the color of concepts at motorshows tends to become the consumer color of choice.
Honda Civic Type R Concept
It’s why yellow became the must-have color of the 1990s, silver and metallic greys the tone of the turn of the millennium and why the last few years have been dominated by white.
The Dacia Dokker Stepway
And if blue is set to become the new hue of choice then it will mark a dramatic turnaround.
The 2014 Venturi America concept buggy
Data shows that when it comes to the used car market, blue cars are some of the least likely to retain their value, particularly darker midnight blues and indigos which second-hand car dealers call the ‘Blues of Doom’. The only colors that fare worse are gold, green and maroon.
The 2014 Nissan Juke
However, stranger things have happened. Not so long ago experts were predicting that brown’s days were numbered as a car color.
Yet in 2012 the world’s most luxurious automotive brands – Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Mercedes, BMW, Maserati and even Porsche — started embracing darker, richer browns for some of their most important models.
