Colour, an endangered species?
"For the past ten years I have been working on highly-saturated, very colourful hues. Colours that stood out." says Raphael. "I'm a fan of colour. The less white, black, and grey there is, the better off I am! In fact, I would love to see more of the full colour spectrum out there on the roads. But the world today is becoming more uniform."
A survey carried out a year ago by Axalta (automotive paint specialist) confirmed that colours are in fact becoming more uniform. According to the survey, 81% of vehicles marketed worldwide are either white (38%), black (19%), or grey (15%). Manufacturers tend to favour these colours because they are relatively cheap to make."Some of these colours have been around for ages," says Raphael. "They are here to last. Take the Renault White: it is over 30 years old!"
While colour palettes offered by manufacturers are increasingly limited, some markets have long resisted more
"neutral colours” and continue to do so today. Some countries have cultures that are more welcoming of colour. This is the case in India, where spices and fabrics create a kaleidoscope of colour. In 2020, Renault unveiled
the Kiger show-car, which paved the way for a new model specifically for the Indian market. Aurora Borealis was specially designed for the model and was unique in how it changed appearance depending on the light and from which angle the car was viewed. It combined blue-purple highlights with neon-green accents.