The official figures for the most popular car colours of 2016 are out. The Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders revealed the top 10 most selected tones for new cars registered on Friday. A record number of new models were purchased in the UK last year, but can you guess which paint option was most selected? White – 552,329 cars: White maintained its position as the UK’s most popular new car colour for the fourth year in a row. More than half a million new car buyers chose the colour last year – a fifth of all registrations – although figures show its popularity is starting to fade with demand falling by 2.1 percent, the first drop since 2005. Black – 542,862 cars: Black is back on trend, it appears. A total of 542,862 cars were purchased in the shade, just 9,467 fewer than the best-selling colour. A 6.5 percent increase in demand meant one in every five cars bought were black in 2016. Many manufacturers now have a black special edition range – Honda is celebrating the final run of Civic Type R models with this dark number. Grey – 465,579 cars: Of the top 10 most chosen colours, grey has had the biggest spike in interest. A handsome chunk of 465,579 new models were chosen in this tone, up 13 percent on last year. It’s traditionally a favourite for buyers of premium models but even sporty cars like the Mazda MX-5 look appealing in the shade. Blue – 414,160 cars: One colour that is in demand is blue, with 414,000 new vehicles selected in this tone. It means more than one in 10 new cars is this shade, helped by a 7.2 percent increase in demand. Like red, it’s often offered as a £0 paint option by motor brands. Red – 303,789 cars: Back in the mid to late ’90s red was the second most selected car colour. It might not be as popular today, but in the last 20 years it has only been out of the top five twice. It is one of the most popular no-cost colour options you can get on new models today, but that still hasn’t helped it climb the table. Silver – 273,220 cars: And that colour is silver. With metallic paints costing extra on just about all mainstream cars these days, buyers might be slightly less obliged to choose silver. The numbers suggest so, with a 7.5 percent decline in sales compared to 2015. Green – 27,740 cars: British racing green might have been one of the top choices in years gone by, but times have changed. Just one percent of the nation’s new models are selected in this paint scheme. While 27,740 sales sounds fairly good, the sixth most popular colour was selected on almost 10 times as many vehicles. Orange – 17,429 cars: With colour choice having a direct impact on the resale value of cars, we’re surprised orange is still gracing the top 10. A total of 17,429 models registered were orange, and carmakers are taking to the tone again for 2017. Both the Honda Jazz and new Nissan Micra will be available in the palette. Brown – 15,244 cars: After make something of a comeback in the last couple of years, buyers are now rethinking if brown really is the best paint option. A 40 percent decline in selections compared to the year previous backs up this theory. It might work for mud-clad 4x4s like this Ssang Yong Rexton, but not for many other car types. Yellow – 12,431 cars: Yellow has returned to the top 10 for the first time in three years, though it had a minimal increase in sales of 0.1 percent. Of the 2,692,786 cars registered in 2016 just 12,431 were yellow, making up less than 0.5 percent of the total market share.