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41 AutoData | August 2018 And there is a surprise: the blue color has registered faster growth. The preference of Brazilian customers for white vehicles increased 1% in 2017 - data indicated 37% in 2016. Overall the so- -called Brilhante Neutro (Neutral Brilliant) obtained growth of almost 10% in the last five years in the region. The silver color also had a favorable peak in 2017, with the so-called Sombra Metálico (Metallic Shadow) increasing 2%, from 29% in 2016 to 31% in 2017. In its latest color report, Axalta noticed a trend for pearly and shiny colors for lu- xury vehicles, which grew 4% in 2017. In South America, gray is the new star, going from 8% to 11%. “For the future we realized a study and we believe that the trend color will be a pearly white that we call StarLite”, notes Aquino, from Axalta. “It’s a sophisticated color that looks good in all types of cars.” More expensive solid colors: blame the white color. The time when the customer tried to save money at the moment of buying a 0 KM vehicle opting for solid colors is gone, which had no additional cost some time ago. Now a good part of them has extra costs, as well as metallic and pearly colors. For example: Fiat, on its website, indicates a charge of R$ 260 for the Alpine red and the white color for the Mobi model, but the black has no additional cost. The same goes for Argo: R$ 500 more for the red and white solid colors. No extra costs only for the black option. Chevrolet also charges for the white Onix and Cruze, its website points out, as well as for the black and white option on more sophisticated models, such as the Equinox. Volkswagen, according to its website, does not raise Up!’s price when the customer chooses white, black and red but the company charges extra R$ 467 for a white or red Polo. Ford does not charge the customer for the red paint of the New Fiesta as well as the EcoSport, for example, but adds R$ 550 and R$ 650, respectively, if the customer chooses the white model. For Marcos Fernandes, from BASF, this is a marketing strategy: “It’s a question of demand, how to position in the market. I do not see any relation to technology or cost, it’s the manufacturer’s strategy itself. The pearlescent or metallic colors can bring some different pigment which leads to a cost increase”. According to Adriana Carradori, Ford’s product manager, the high demand for the white color led the company to charge for that solid color. On the other hand, there is no additional cost for the red solid color. The same happens with Ka Freestyle, which has a Trancoso brown option for free. All the other colors regarding this model have extra cost. Fiat, Chevrolet and VWwere sought to comment on the issue, but did not respond. In the same way as other components, novelties in paints tend reach top-of-the- line models first Disclousure/GM