The Ioniq Hybrid showed the highest percentage with 66 percent of buyers choosing ‘Polar White’. The car is currently offered in eight different colors. (image: Hyundai Motor Company)
SEOUL, July 25 (Korea Bizwire) – According to Hyundai Motor, 48 percent of the customers who purchased its eco-friendly hybrid models – Ioniq, Sonata and Grandeur (Azera) – between January and May chose white-colored vehicles, indicating that white is the most popular color for eco-friendly cars.
The Ioniq Hybrid showed the highest percentage with 66 percent of buyers choosing ‘Polar White’. The car is currently offered in eight different colors. Similarly, 47 percent of Sonata Hybrid customers and 24 percent of Grandeur Hybrid customers chose ‘Ice White’.
According Hyundai, white is often the most popular color for compact vehicles, while silver is preferred for midsize, and black, for full-sized models, and there is a clear fondness for white among customers when buying eco-friendly models.
In fact, 48 percent of the Avante (Elantra) models sold in 2016 were white, followed by silver (39 percent) and black (5 percent), whereas 44 percent of Sonatas (non-hybrid) sold were silver, followed by white (35 percent) and black (15 percent). The Grandeur, a full-sized sedan, was most popular in black (59 percent), followed by silver (21 percent) and white (20 percent).
A similar trend can be observed for sales of Kia Motors’ latest hybrid SUV, the Niro, with white accounting for 45 percent of the models sold.
“White is often the most easy-going color, and white cars tend to be popular in the used-car market,” said an industry watcher. “It’s also the perception that the color white is more associated with eco-friendliness, which contributes to a high proportion of white hybrid models being sold.”
By Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
