What Colour Car Do Kiwis Drive?
Drive down any New Zealand motorway and you'll see a lot of white, a lot of silver, and then a long tail of everything else. We aggregated colour data across the 100 most common car models in the NZTA register to see exactly how NZ's palette breaks down.
The dominance of white and silver isn't unique to New Zealand — it's a global trend, reinforced here by our heavy reliance on Japanese used imports (where white and silver are even more popular than in other markets). But the data still holds a few surprises.
What the data shows
- White and silver together make up about half the fleet. This is consistent with global trends — axalta's annual colour report typically shows white as the world's most popular car colour.
- Blue outranks black. That's unusual compared to many countries where black typically claims third place. NZ's blue count is likely inflated by the popularity of blue in the Japanese domestic market.
- Bold colours are rare. Orange, yellow, pink, and purple together account for less than 1% of the fleet. If you want your car to stand out in a car park, any of these will do it.
- The "boring" colours dominate for practical reasons. White hides dust and road grime better, silver doesn't show small scratches, and both tend to hold their resale value better than unusual colours.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most popular car colour in New Zealand?
White is the most popular car colour in New Zealand, accounting for approximately 24% of the top 100 models' fleet. Silver is a close second.
Why are most cars white or silver?
White and silver dominate globally — they're popular in Japan (where many NZ cars originate as used imports), they show dirt less than dark colours, and they tend to have better resale value. In NZ's case, the high proportion of Japanese used imports heavily influences the colour mix.
What is the rarest car colour in NZ?
Among common colours, pink, purple, and orange are the rarest on New Zealand roads. Gold is also surprisingly uncommon given how many '90s and 2000s Japanese imports are registered.
Data sourced from the NZTA Motor Vehicle Register, March 2026. Colour counts aggregated from the top 100 most common models. The NZTA records a single "basic colour" per vehicle — multi-tone or wrapped vehicles are recorded by their primary colour.