British car buyers are being stung by an average of £536 by manufacturers if they want to have a choice of more than one colour.
Car manufacturers have reduced the palette of solid colours available to just a single offering on 30 of the UK's most popular cars. For those companies offering only one free colour, consumers are charged on average an extra £292 for non-standard solid paints, according to an investigation published today by car magazine Parker's.
White and black most popular; but usually cost extra
Sales data compiled by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) confirmed that white was the most popular colour for new car sales in 2016, with 552,329 registrations. And yet, of those 50 popular ranges of cars sampled, only 26 are available with solid white as a 'free' colour.
Black is the second most commonly-chosen colour with 542,862 registrations. Only 14 of those 50 popular ranges have black as a no-cost option colour. This doesn't seem fair on Britain's hard-pressed car buyers amid ever-increasing fuel prices rises and 2017's VED car tax changes.
One manufacturer spokesman who asked not to be identified told Parker's: "The policy of charging more for certain shades of solid paint became more widespread during the recession to boost profitability, especially on smaller, less expensive cars."
How are the most popular cars affected?
Take the Ford Fiesta, Britain's best-selling car in 2016. If a buyer chooses it in entry-level Zetec specification, the sole standard paint is Race Red.
Buyers looking for a Frozen White Fiesta Zetec, can expect to be liberated of an extra £250.
Glitzier shades from Ford's Premium or Exclusive colour range cost between £495 and £725 more.
Limited inclusive choices across market sectors
As metallic and matt types of paint cost more to produce, and the application process takes longer with more layers of base- and top-coats, it's reasonable to expect an additional charge for something more sparkly.
Across all of the UK's most popular ranges (including those with more than one free standard colour), premium paint finishes will set car buyers back an average of £808.
Parker's buying advice
Research all of the costs thoroughly before you set foot in a showroom so that you know exactly what you want, and play different dealers off against each other.
It's worth remembering that cars in metallic colours usually have a higher resale value than their equivalents in solid colours. Rather than spending that average of £292 for an optional solid shade that a used buyer is less likely to appreciate the premium for – if you can budget for it – spend the extra £244 average cost for a metallic colour for a stronger residual value.
Consumers looking to buy a MINI Hatch only have one choice of free colour but, unusually, the standard colour is a metallic: Moonwalk Grey. Of the other popular cars in the Parker's sample with only one standard shade, only the Kia Sportage's paint is metallic.
MINI buyers preferring solid paint in Chilli Red, Pepper White or Volcanic Orange, pay a £475 premium – the same price MINI charges for its other metallic colours – despite being cheaper to produce. Those hankering after solid Lapisluxury Blue, pay £750 extra.
MINI's spokesperson told Parker's: "Our customers love to customise their vehicles and there are hundreds of thousands of possible combinations. In order to offer this level of customisation, options are priced to reflect the manufacturing and logistical requirements to facilitate them."
The Nissan Qashqai has been a huge success for the Japanese manufacturer since it launched at the forefront of a surge in popularity for 'crossover' cars. Buyers considering the Qashqai in the least-expensive Visia DIG-T 115 guise at £18,795 only have Flame Red available as a standard shade. The optional colours are all metallic (£575 extra) or pearlescent (an additional £745).
Nissan's spokesman was tight-lipped on the reasons behind the restricted 'free' choice but suggested that "around 95 per cent of Qashqai buyers choose a premium colour." With such a large volume of sales, those extra-cost colours look particularly lucrative.
Source: www.bing.com
