Favorite Car Color? Depends on the City

(AP)  In Philadelphia, they've got the blues. In Cincinnati, they've got - well - the reds.

Cincinnati is the top market for red cars in the U.S., while Philly buyers prefer blue, according to sales data released Tuesday by Ford Motor Co.

Sometimes, color preferences are logical. Buyers in hot cities, like Phoenix and Dallas, like white cars, while buyers in colder cities, like Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Detroit, are partial to red, according to Ford's internal data. No-nonsense New Yorkers like black and gray.

Sometimes, the preferences are a puzzle. Boston is the top market for both brown and green cars, for example, while San Franciscans like silver. In Florida, they like gold.

Silver remained the most popular color in the U.S. this year for the ninth year in a row, according to data released this month by Pittsburgh-based paint maker PPG Industries Inc. Twenty percent of U.S. cars are silver. White finished second and black was third.

Ford also found that Boston was the top market for its four-cylinder engines, while Houston, the top market for pickup trucks, gets its vroom from V8s. San Francisco, Seattle and Los Angeles are the top markets for hybrids.

It may seem trivial, but the information is critical to the company and its dealers. Ford said it analyzes the data carefully to figure out which vehicle configurations will be the top sellers in any region.

Ford said the correct vehicle mix results in better sales for dealers and better customer service, since customers can find the vehicles they want more quickly.

Colors:

Black: New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; Miami; Detroit

Blue: Philadelphia; Washington; Boston; Seattle; Detroit

Brown: Boston; Minneapolis; Phoenix; Chicago; Pittsburgh

Gold: Orlando; Miami; Pittsburgh; Denver; Washington

Gray: New York; Boston; San Francisco; Los Angeles; Pittsburgh

Green: Boston; Seattle; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Washington

Red: Cincinnati; Minneapolis; Detroit; Kansas City; Pittsburgh

Silver: San Francisco; Phoenix; Los Angeles; Charlotte; Washington

White: Phoenix; Memphis; Los Angeles; Denver; Dallas


Engines:

Four-Cylinder: Boston; Pittsburgh; San Francisco; Washington; Philadelphia

Six-Cylinder: Detroit; New York; Chicago; Kansas City; Philadelphia

Eight-Cylinder: Houston; Memphis; Dallas; Denver; Minneapolis

Hybrid: San Francisco; Seattle; Los Angeles; Washington; Boston


Source: Ford Motor Co.

[erasmus111]

The color that draws my attention and that I think looks "classy", are the silver, white, and black ones. It doesn't seem to matter what the make, they always seem to look the nicest.

[stlmaddog5]

Someone should tell the people in Cincinnati; Minneapolis; Detroit; Kansas City; Pittsburgh that red cars are bad luck! And no one buys cars in Saint Louis anymore which is why we didn't make the list.

[wyodutch]

Geez... Was I mistaken. I figured that in the post 911 paranoia, the most popular color in America would be yellow.