August focus: colour and finish 

For each month in 2025, the team at Car Design News has focussed on a different topic to explore areas we feel are in flux, growing in importance, or are simply under-discussed within the industry. For August, the focus is on exterior colour and finish. 

Colour plays a crucial role and can make or break a first impression. Certain colours will make the surfacing of a car pop, others will hide its curves or geometries. Just bought a car? You can bet the follow up question to "what is it" will be "nice, what colour is it?" Colour is also a chance for the driver to reflect some of their own personality; the most obvious form of 'personalisation.' 

Paintwork must also work in tandem with contrast sections and accents, typically the black cladding found around the base of the car and wheel arches, but also the treatment to the door pillars, roof or elements of the bumpers. 

Paint finishes remain as vast as ever and, despite an affordable gloss white proving the default for many new models, there are plenty of metallic, satin, matte and even some pearlescent options from factory. Innovation in this area may be hidden to the naked eye, with suppliers offering less harmful and more sustainable base components to those paints and clear coats. Doing so while retaining durability and repeatability at mass scale will be key. 

Far less common now than it ever has been, the two-tone finish was popular during the 1950s and '60s and was employed on anything from a humble work truck to a shapely limousine or sportscar. 

At that time, two-tone generally referred to a defined line on the body side, sometimes straight, oftentimes angled to emphasise certain curves or features. While some models today employ a similar approach — such as the ID. Buzz — most two-tone paint jobs refer to a split body and roof colour, and occasionally the bonnet. Two-tone also made an appearance on the latest Corvette concept. 

Decals and side graphics are even rarer today, having enjoyed a period of popularity during the '80s, '90s and early noughties. These would typically come through special editions, but also as stock. The Toyota Land Cruiser is a solid example. In fact, Toyota was reasonably prolific in this context, so too Jeep and AMC. Is there a place for side graphics in 2026 and beyond? For special editions, it certainly seems so. 

What about no paint at all? We did in one specific case study see a return of the 'bare metal' finish via the Cybertruck. However divisive the design itself may be (although top design bosses did rank it second in Car Design Review 7) the decision to forego paint altogether and run a stainless steel exterior should be applauded, even if only for its outlandishness. 

In partnership with Ultrafabrics, we surveyed the industry earlier this year to gauge where colour trends (among other things) might be headed. 

The majority of respondents believe earthy tones to be the next big thing, perhaps already identified by launches like the new Santa Fe last year and more recently the Bentley EXP 15 concept. 'Earthy' might also be reasonably applied to the Lynk & Co 08's copper finish and the Renault Savanne's green and brown combo. 

CDN's survey found achromatic hues were in close second, perhaps obvious given the proclivity toward affordable, inoffensive colours for casual drivers - a trend that links back to early vehicles from a century ago. 

Pastels were also raised as a potential trend and that has certainly married up with what we have seen with the Jaguar Type 00 concept and the light purple interior of Chery's recent concept. 

Sage green remains a fan favourite on the whole, a trend we flagged a couple of years ago, and backed up by independent forecasting by Callum this year. (Aqua Mist is a combination of both trends: a pastel sage green!). 

For now, these are musings that will flow through to dedicated conversations with designers across the industry, with the aim of shedding some light on where things are going. 

Look out for interviews and features to follow, and make sure you sign up for our newsletter for more inspiration via the Flashback section.

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