Were you hoping to have a red Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT or Dodge Durango Ron Burgundy Edition in your driveway in time for Christmas? You may have to try your luck on the lot, as new orders will be painted black, white, gray and silver all over for the next few months.
Automotive News reports the grayscale look will be in until at least next February due to upgrades at Chrysler Group’s Jefferson North Assembly’s paint shop in Detroit. The upgrades would allow the shop to paint vehicles with more complex colors than it could prior to the changeover.
The changeover, which follows those at the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ subsidary’s Warren Truck and Sterling Heights facilities, will also shut production down for three weeks beginning December 22, the first time the plant has been shut down for that long in several years.
Until then, shoppers can comb through the lot to find a red or maximum steel SUV of their dreams: around 19 percent of 24,500 unsold 2015 Grand Cherokees and 8 percent of 719 unsold Dodge Durangos come in colors outside of the grayscale range.
Americans love grey. So, so much.
“Then you wake up and its the grayest day you’ve ever seen! And the next day it’s even grayer! And that’s usually Valentine’s Day, and that’s the day you look at your wrists and go, ‘Hey, maybe I should slit ’em to see color!”
Lewis Black knows how I feel about gray.
No kidding. As long as grey is in the color palette, I’m sure they will do fine. It’s kind of depressing all the gray and silver vehicles on the road.
Silver hides scratches very well.
White is “cooler” when it gets hot outside.
Black is warmer all-year-round and looks more menacing. Also the choice of professionals in limo services.
After having owned more than 40 cars through the years (I used to buy, fix and resell used cars), plus being assigned 20+ company cars, I’ve come to find that light colors, especially silver or white, hold up best and hide dirt more (yes, light colors look cleaner when dirty, as opposed to the conventional wisdom that dark cars don’t show dirt as much). Non-metallic blacks, dark blues, greens, or dark burgundy are a pain to maintain…
As a youth, I developed a great liking for British Racing Green. As an adult, I’ve had 2 vehicles in dark green metallic colours – a ’94 Grand Cherokee and an ’03 A4 Avant.
Both were special orders, and both got lots of compliments. The Audi salesman, in particular, told me that the dealership would never stock a car in that colour, but that they’d had lots of favourable comments about mine after it arrived.
Well it’s better than Merc, Audi, and BMW. Looking around I am pretty sure that they only paint them in “German Lease” silver.
What, no silver Cherokees?
Silver’s counted in the grayscale spectrum, per the cited article.
Phew! Otherwise, there goes a quarter of their sales.
It seems like 80 percent of the late model cars on the road are greyscale.
Reminds me of the funny segment in the news section of Top Gear where they complained about coloring.
“Here I have the brochure for the new S-Class. It’s available in BLACK, SILVER, SILVER, OR BLACK.”
It’s German Lease Black or German Lease White. Silver and other metallic colours are an extra-cost option on your average luxury sled.
Which is odd, because metallic paint is free on the likes of $9K Nissan Micra.
“German Lease” Silver!
Dad calls it “Senior Silver,” to go with “Old Man Tan.” Florida is filled with silver and tan cars beloved by the geriatric segment.
My family loves white cars. I have a picture from Christmas a few years ago when we were all in town together, and I’d driven rather than flown as usual: Four white cars in the drive way (and 10 doors total between them all!)
Especially Toyotas.
A good 80 percent of Toyota Highlanders I’ve seen are tan, about 10 percent are white, and the remaining 10 percent are some other color.
The problem with white cars in the snow belt is, you can’t find ’em after a snowstorm.
If you can’t find your car you have no business driving
That sounds kind of self-correcting.
Darwin’s circle is now complete
Hey it worked for “Give ’em any color as long as it’s black” Ford, so I guess Jeep/Durango will survive
You know that’s not actually *true*, right?
The story is true the term may not be. Offering different colors held up production of the Model T. In 1913 engineers did a test to see what paint would dry the fastest. Black or actually “Japan Black” won and for the next 13 years all model Ts were painted “Japan Black” Then in 1926 Dupont developed a quick drying paint in a rainbow of colors so, once again Ford went back to offering colors.
The more interesting tidbit about this is that prior to 1913 Ford didn’t even offer black as a color option
“The upgrades would allow the shop to paint vehicles with more complex colors”
So 5 different shades of gray to choose from instead of 3?
Not five, 50. ;)
That’s an erotic novel!
Anyway, it’s not just gray. We can look forward to Jeeps painted in “Moonlight Satin” and “Dusk Ecru”.
If I buy one, it will be that nice maroon. But not before Christmas.
The color is Burgundy, as in Ron Burgundy
Deep Cherry Red Metallic Clearcoat. A friend of the family has one in Limited trim with the 5.7L Hemi and she loves hers. Vroom Vroom Vroom!
#applause
My three favorite colors on a vehicle.
Who drives a red car, anyway? Get a red car for your lady.
Or a blue car? What are you, twelve?
Now I sit back patiently for the outcry from red and blue car owners!!! Lol
um, I have a blue car, it’s pretty too. Makes me very happy ;-)
I’ve got three blue cars, guess that makes me 36.
The two colors of car I wouldn’t buy are black, because gravel dust shows up too easily, and white, because it looks like a fleet vehicle.
I don’t like gray/silver because it’s kind of depressing, but then again, my Mazda is silver. This would also go hand in hand with my principle of “don’t buy the same color on the next vehicle”. Unlike my father, who has bought only bright red Fords since April of 2001 and sees no reason to stop now.
So, after all that mish-mash, what color?
At least you guys knew I was kidding.
Whew.
Although whenever I would be wearing blue and driving my wife’s “In Your Face Red” Chevy, something didn’t quite feel right.
That’s because you clashed, Geez
Yup. Clashing sucks.
Makes you feel all icky, doesn’t it?
I normally hate red cars, but I just have to say that I love Crystal Red Tintcoat (available on most GM vehicles), as well as Mazda’s Soul Red.
I wanted a metallic blue color on my 2013 Malibu, but that car was sold – so I settled for the Crystal Red Tintcoat – I actually like it (when it’s clean). It “goes” better with the Beige/Brown interior colors (I was getting positively sick of Elephant Gray and black interiors – no kids, no problems).
Edit: Lie2me – VVVVV (The “Reply” function in this thread is wonky)
The really good thing about the color is that I have yet to see a CRT Malibu with a bar-code sticker in the window… :-)
Red Malibus look nice, thumbs-up
Anything but those four. It’s all moot, though, because I’m keeping the Mazda until the engine seizes.
But given the choice between a car in the “right” color and a car with the “right” options/mechanicals, I’ll pick the latter every time.
And really, gray/silver is great for hiding dust.
That’s a V6, isn’t it? You have a long wait… but, not for the transmission
The Accord Coupe V6 I bought last month is in a bright silver.
And with the salt dust all over it from the disgusting weather most of us in the US has been having, YES, silver is indeed great at hiding dust.
I’m a sucker for black/black every time. But once they get dirty, they are no longer black, but like a flat charcoal. And most black cars on the road right now, probably 75% of them, are that flat charcoal color right now (needing a wash) as we speak.
Yet and still, black on black FTW
Pearl white is great and doesn’t look rental.
@Lie2me: I’m at 135K with no problems, but I’ll be on the lookout now. Thanks.
I went a 179K with only a $600 transmission repair, others weren’t so lucky. How are your glow coils holding up? I had two go bad. Those were my only issues in all those miles
I have a white car. I wouldn’t say it looks like a fleet vehicle but it is quite bland. On the rare occasions that it is very, very clean it looks pretty sharp.
I much like white over black interior.
Aren’t blue and red the only colors left outside of black/white/gray/the other gray?
BMW has Valencia Orange, but I don’t know if I could live with it.
My wagon is a lovely shade of dark gray/green, and my Range Rover is metallic navy blue. Fiat Abarth is metallic black, which works well on that car, but I would have much preferred one of the more fun colors from the Pop.
My daughter’s favorite colors are fluorescent green and blue. She thinks she’s getting a Ford Fiesta in that bright Lime Squeeze color when she can own her own car. Those Alien Green Kias turn her head too.
I have a deep blue Corolla, and am deeply bored by the color. (Used, whatcha gonna do? It was a great deal.)
I do, however, love a really light sky blue.
Can’t abide red.
My real favorites are greens and browns.
(Seriously, I idly spec out high end cars for fun and it’s all … “why am I supposed to want to pay $50k for a boring-ass grey or white or black?”)
“I have a deep blue Corolla, and am deeply bored by the color”
um, it has nothing to do with the color, it’s the car
Fine, there are enough cars in Trashy Tomato.
Ba-dum-CHING!
24,500 unsold 2015 Grand Cherokees…719 unsold Dodge Durangos
That is impressively low inventory. Is it because the Durango is a hot seller, or because they have a production problem?
They just don’t make as many Durangos as they do Grand Cherokees, is what I was told by my poker-playing CJDR-dealership-owning buddy.
The Durango is just a bit player since 2009 or so.
Honda’s been limiting available exterior colors on many Accord models
for some time now. They happen to be the models I’d consider purchasing.
However, I don’t like grayscale colors and I REALLY don’t like black
interiors. A gray interior is not far behind on the I-dont-like-it
scale, either. Too bad, Honda, looks like you’re not getting my
business.
When we were shopping for an Odyssey, at the end of August, I told the kids that they could help pick the color. Once I announced that the choices were white, black, light grey and dark grey, they weren’t interested in playing.
Turned out there was only one 2014 Odyssey left in the trim level we wanted, in black. It looks pretty sinister for a minivan.
The lowly Grand Caravan is available in 8 colors (4 of them not white/grey/black).
Sinister minivan? That’s like saying my Chevy Spark looks sinister in black.
Tough choices… Can’t we all just agree on metalic grey?
Still holding my breath for a luscious brown.
We have a 2012 Grand Cherokee in Auburn Metallic Clearcoat – a deep dark brown that changes shades depending on how the light hits it. It’s what caught my wife’s eye at 75mph when we sped through Phoenix on I-10 at 1045am.
A very choice selection, Sir.
Not many Grand Cherokees around in that color although the same color is also used on the Chrysler, Dodge and RAM products.
VW has a very nice brown for the Jetta Sportswagen. With diesel and stickshift, but no AWD. My kind of car, but I would go for blue.
Reminds me of the poor Microsoft Zune.
I never wanted one, far preferring Apple’s UX.
But people mocked the chocolate brown option, which I thought was actually *totally compelling* aesthetically.
Colors! They’re nice.
Arrest me red is not the best idea for this beast?
Lol, you funny guy
Damnit, whatever happened to “White Lightning” (IIRC)?
That overly pearlescent “white-ish” on Buicks and Caddies from the early to late 2000’s?
Diamond Dust.
I know high-end F-150s and Navigators have a color called “White Platinum Tri-Coat”.
Pearl’s been around for a while, I presume.
My buddy’s old Audi 200 Turbo Quattro. Snowflake wheels to match. All factory. All pearl.
Albeit not quite as pearlescent as “Diamond Dust”, “props” to Corey for clarification.
Yes, its true. I said “props”.
Sigh.
My wife buys cars in two colors, white or gold. The previous two were gold, this one’s white, since gold is not very available. Me, of all the cars I’ve bought for myself, have been yellow, red, blue, green, and now charcoal grey.
As long as your next purchase is of a secondary color, all will be forgiven.
It appears the next hue in the rotation will be purple; fun, fun!
Survey says….
“Eggplant!”
(Sorry. I left Magic 8-Ball at home. Magic 8-Ball knows all…)
There’s a free Magic 8-Ball App. Very convenient when out and faced with a major decision.
My 350Z is orange… or as Nissan calls it “Le Mans Sunset”. Do I win?
Wife’s C30 is white pearl aka “Cosmic White” in Volvo speak. While white is almost impossible to keep clean her car gets bonus points for having a brown -yes BROWN!- aka “Java” factory body kit.
My Dakota is boring silver due to the fact that its a dirty truck that I mostly ignore so dull grey is perfect.
Mmm, orange! That color really tends to pop in this area as the season turns to ice and snow conditions.
I was annoyed to find Citroen’s vehicle configurator did not allow for chocolate brown Airbump panels on many of its C4 Cactus colors; a shame, as earthtones contrast well with the yellow and red hues on offer. And color (vs grayscale in all its variations) projects a far more optimistic mien.
The Automotive News article said that 70% of cars sold are painted either white, silver, gray or black. So this really won’t have that big an impact on sales anyway.
The auto industry likes to point out that BWSG cars make up 70% of sales while ignoring that they make up at least that percentage of colors offered. Sort of like the Dilbert recollection of idiot managers that complain about 40% of sick days being taken on Mondays and Fridays.
Though in their defense, they also run a lot of market research, and *probably* the Real Preferences are more towards those neutral colors than the ones enthusiasts might prefer.
Color preference in a major purchase where resale value is a big factor is *not* going to be an even distribution.
I suspect BWSG do as well as they do because they’re everyone’s second choice.
White is oddly regional, though.
I’ve found that when I’m able to locate a car I want with a manual, it’s almost always silver or white. I don’t know if that’s because they are more common, or if they intentionally limit them to the most popular/neutral colors since they’re a niche choice anyway.
Picked up a black 2015 Grand Cherokee two months ago. Biggest piece of shit I’ve ever own. Seriously. The 8-speed transmission alone is problematic enough to make me want to give it back. And Jeep dealers have no clue how to fix it.
White Shadow, it is with deep regret that I confess that I believe you about your 2015 Grand Cherokee.
My wife’s three sisters each bought a 2014 Grand Cherokee and have all experienced annoying and recurring problems with theirs. The 2015 is fundamentally unchanged from the 2014 model.
Although our 2012 Grand Cherokee has not had any problems in 60K+ miles, other than a thirsty power steering fluid reservoir that takes a very special synthetic silicone power steering fluid, we decided to place our bet on a 2015 Sequoia Platinum 4×4.
We gave the Grand Cherokee to our 23-yo grand daughter to use, after we sold her 2011 Elantra this month. The Elantra had served her well all through college but was not a 4×4 and had more than 72K on the clock. It was time.
Damn, but that GC is one righteous looking machine, even in red. Big kudos on the straight and nearly horizontal beltline.
The Grand Cherokee looks good in gray and white (fortunately, for those who can’t find more adventurous colors).
And speaking of car colors – the only car ever to look good in purple is the Rover 2000 TC. It’s a elegant design that features tiny, vestigial tail fins.
Corgi produced a scale version of the Rover 2000 TC in purple:
http://www.vectis.co.uk/Page/ViewLot.aspx?LotId=463815&Section=0&Start=560
I’ve always loved the Rover 2000’s looks. It should have been the English Volvo. God, what a stolid and reassuring design. Like a big, kindly cop.
“what a stolid and reassuring design” as it dangles from the back of a tow truck
I think (hope) Pete means the P6, made by Rover before it was masticated by British Leyland. Rover came up with the design for the successor car under BL, but from what I’ve heard, only the ones built in Rover’s Solihull plant were well made.