RED is falling out of favour with new car buyers, while sales of black and grey vehicles are rocketing.

Statistics gathered by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show silver is still the number one choice for new car buyers, while blue remains the most common colour car of any age on British roads.

Red car sales fell 14.8% from 2003 to 2004, while black sales rose 13.8% and grey by 19.6%. Martin Ward, national research manager at CAP Motor Research, said: ‘It’s fashion. Manufacturers are getting much more switched on and choosy about colours.

In the longer term, this means there will be fewer colours to choose from but they will all be pretty good.’