January 7, 2000

As the global leader in automotive coatings, DuPont has issued its 1999 exterior color popularity data, used as a baseline for determining the vehicle color trends for 2003 and beyond.

DuPont measures exterior vehicle color popularity in four segments luxury, full/intermediate, sport/compact and SUV/truck/van as a baseline for predicting trends four to six years in advance of production.

The 48th annual DuPont color popularity survey reflects the emergence of techno-colors, such as silver, along with nature-based colors, including warm browns and cool blues. The emotional impact of black and traditional primary colors such as red is also expected to remain strong.

White retained dominance in the full/intermediate and sport-utility vehicle/truck/van segments.

Luxury			Full/Intermediate
	1999	1998		1999	1998
1. White Met.	15.8	12.3	1. White	15.4	15.6
2. Silver	14.8	9.2	2. Silver	14.1	11.0
3. Lt. Brown	12.9	17.7	3. Lt. Brown	14.0	14.1
4. White	10.3	11.3	4. Med./Dk. Green	13.9	16.4
5. Black	9.4	12.3	5. Black	11.7	8.9
6. Med. Gray	8.3	5.3	6. Med./Dk. Blue	6.4	6.0
7. Gold	7.0	4.8	7. Med. Red	5.7	6.5
8. Med. Red	6.0	7.5	8. Bright Red	4.9	N/A
9. Med./Dk. Green	6.1	10.0	9. Med. Gray	4.3	N/A
10. Med./Dk. Blue	4.9	4.8	10. Gold	1.8	N/A

Sport/Compact			SUV/Truck/Van
	1999	1998		1999	1998
1. Silver	16.2	10.4	1. White	26.2	22.5
2. Black	14.7	15.0	2. Black	11.2	15.5
3. White	14.0	14.7	3. Med./Dk. Green	11.0	7.2
4. Med./Dk. Green	12.4	15.9	4. Med./Dk. Blue	8.4	4.7
5. Med./Dk. Blue	8.5	5.3	5. Silver	7.7	6.2
6. Lt. Brown	8.5	7.0	6. Med. Red	7.4	7.2
7. Bright Red	7.5	9.5	7. Lt. Brown	6.2	6.1
8. Med. Red	7.0	6.4	8. Bright Red	6.1	7.1
9. Dk. Red	4.5	N/A	9. Med./Dk. Gray	4.5	N/A
10. Lt. Green	1.7	N/A	10. Dk. Red	3.1	4.5

Results by Vehicle Category 1999

• Light brown lost the lead to white metallic and silver in the luxury car category, while green plunged to the bottom of the chart and black also dropped. This is significant because luxury car colors usually steer changes across all categories.
• White continued to top the full/intermediate category, with silver right behind it. Light brown and black remained steady, but green declined from first to fourth place. Bright red, medium gray and gold also entered the top ten.
• Silver shot up 5.8 percent to dominate the sport/compact category, while green dropped from first to fourth place; black and white remained in the same spots as last year. Dark red and light green moved into the ninth and tenth spots, respectively, after an absence from the top ten the previous three years, replacing aqua and purple.
• White remained the favorite in the SUV/truck/van category, which represents more than 40 percent of all vehicles sold. Black topped green for second place, and blue and silver continued to move up. Medium/dark gray also joined the top ten.

Overall Results

• Silver, one of the emerging high-tech colors that evokes high technology and mystery, increased in popularity in all four categories.
• Medium/dark blue climbed the charts in all four categories, particularly in the sport/compact and SUV/truck/van segments.
• Green, a member of the top two in three of the four categories for the previous three years, lost ground in all four categories except SUV/truck/van.
• Light brown lost points in every category while gray enters the fray and becomes more popular in every category besides sport/compact, where gray isnt in the top ten.