The 2024 Automotive Color of the Year announced by car paint manufacturer Axalta Coating Systems is Starry Night, the first black shade among the ten color of the year hues Axalta has announced over the past decade.
Starry Night became Color of the Year for 2024 because it “evokes the depths of our universe and space exploration,” according to Axalta, which also published a video showcasing the new paint color.
Starry Night is not just a plain black color, but includes light blue and silver flakes to create a “dynamic” color. The senior manager of Global Color at Axalta, Dan Benton, noted that “Black is the second most popular automotive color globally and we’re excited to feature a black shade as our 2024 Global Automotive Color of the Year.”
He went on to remark that “this year’s color is part cosmic and part classic, but all Axalta.” Axalta is a major producer of automotive paint as well as coatings for other industrial applications such as building facades. The company originated in Germany in the 1860s, but is headquartered in Philadelphia today. Axalta is a sponsor for Hendrick Motorsports, the Chevy-aligned race team founded by Rick Hendrick.
Axalta’s Color of the Year for 2023 was Techno Blue, which is perhaps unsurprising that blue is the most popular chromatic color in North America, outperforming even red in 2023 (9 percent of new cars versus 8 percent). The company said Techno Blue “radiates positivity” and futuristic thinking. Royal Magenta was the Color of the Year in 2022 while 2021 highlighted Electrolight, a yellow-green color.
Starry Night taps into the strong popularity of black as well as achromatic paint colors in general. While white accounted for 34 percent of North American new vehicle color choices last year, black came in second at 22 percent. You can view Axalta’s Starry Night video here:
Interestingly, Axalta’s first annual color winner was Radiant Red in 2015, a name reminiscent of GM’s Radiant Red Tintcoat (RPO code GNT) introduced on select 2023 model-year Chevy and Cadillac vehicles.
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Comments
That color almost looks like the Hot Wheels black Gasser color of a few years ago.
My 2021 Tahoe LT is Midnight Blue Metallic and to most people at first glance it’s black but when they see it in bright light they see for blue and various colors of metallic flake in it. It’s beautiful!!!