A quick trip on our roads will confirm that white is the most popular car colour in Australia. That makes sense given how hot most of our country is, but could it be more boring?

Around 40 per cent of new car sales in Australia are made up of cars coloured white, while black, grey and silver follow closely behind. A lot of these car colours are chosen for their resale value, which is an important factor for many when choosing a new car, but what if resale value didn’t matter? What if we chose our car colour purely for impact and street presence.

In no particular order, here’s our pick of some of the best car colours available today:

Porsche Ruby Star Neo

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Originally first shown in the late 1980s on the 964 Carrera, Porsche’s Ruby Star – and its newer Ruby Star Neo equivalent developed in 2022 (available through the company’s Paint to Sample program) – is an iconic colour that is best known for featuring on on the 964 Carrera RS. An intense magenta, Ruby Star was inspired by a ruby gemstone and remains a rare sought-after colour among Porsche lovers.

Mazda Soul Red Crystal

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Red isn’t traditionally a big colour choice for Australians, but nobody told that to Mazda buyers with its Soul Red (and the later Soul Red Crystal) colour. Offered on every Mazda model currently sold in Australia, bar the Isuzu-sourced BT-50 ute, Soul Red Crystal was first introduced in 2017 as the hero colour of the range. According to Mazda, it uses a three-layer structure that “blends vibrant pigments with light-absorbing flakes for a dramatic, luminous effect”, which is why it looks so great in direct sunlight.

Hyundai N Performance Blue

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It’s well known that a halo colour is needed to launch your new halo sub-brand, and that’s exactly what Hyundai did when its new N range launched in 2017. One of the first in a new wave of matte-like flat colours like Nardo Grey from Audi, Performance Blue is available on every one of its N products, like the Ioniq 5 N, i30 N and smaller i20 N. It also features in the cabin of the cars, including on the steering wheel buttons and contrast stitching.

Volkswagen Lapiz Blue

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Volkswagen‘s R high performance division has used deep blue colours as its signature colour since its debut with the Mk4 Golf R32 in 2004, and the latest version is called Lapiz Blue. Easily the most popular Golf R and Touareg R colour, Lapiz Blue is known for its deep, striking finish, where it appears bright and vivid in direct sunlight but deeper and darker blue in lower light

BMW Twilight Purple

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Twilight Purple is a relatively new option on the BMW palette, having been introduced on the 2021 2 Series, but has become popular on certain models like the M3 Touring. Available through the company’s Individual program, Twilight Purple is a deep and colour-shifting hue that changes from near-black to a vibrant violet depending on the light.

Mercedes-Benz China Blue

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China Blue is a vintage-inspired hue with a bold yet soft pastel finish. Inspired by rich colours of Chinese ceramics, China Blue first debuted in the 1980s on the G Wagen. These days, it’s only available through Mercedes-Benz‘s Manufaktur customisation line, ensuring its exclusivity, and it’s also only available on models such as the S-Class and G-Class.

Alfa Romeo Montreal Green

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Available on modern Alfa Romeo products such as the Tonale small SUV and high-performance Quadrifoglio versions of the Giulia and Stelvio mid-sizers, Montreal Green is a vibrant, tri-colour metallic green hue. It pays homage to the classic 1970s Alfa Romeo Montreal sports car and looks fantastic in direct sunlight with the metallic flecks bursting through. It’s a colour that looks even better up close.

MG Emerald Green

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Greens are certainly making a comeback in today’s new car market, as evidenced by mainstream brands such as MG offering it for its products. We recently tested the new MG7 mid-size sedan in the company’s new Emerald Green hue, which looked fantastic. It’s also available on the ZS small SUV, and we hope it spreads further throughout the MG range.

Subaru WR Blue

2025 Subaru WRX
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The World Rally Championship cannot be imagined without the WR Blue – that’s World Rally Blue – especially in Subaru‘s dominant period that lasted from 1995 to 1997. Now available on the iconic WRX and the BRZ sports car, WR Blue is a great colour and is an intrinsic part of Subaru’s brand identity, much like the WRX and special editions such as the 22B, serving as a great reminder of how good performance car enthusiasts had it in the 1990s.

Lexus Sonic Copper

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Rose gold is a colour that has become much more popular in the past five years, both for cars but also watches and fashion. Lexus clearly wanted to join the bandwagon by launching its Sonic Copper colour on the current-generation RX in 2022. According to Lexus, Sonic Copper is created by “using sonic waves to distribute the metallic flakes suspended in the paint into close, uniform alignment”.