British motorists switching to electric vehicles are reshaping long-standing car colour preferences, with sales of green-tinted cars in the UK reaching their highest level in two decades in 2025, according to industry body Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
Nearly 100,000 green cars were sold during the year, up 46.3% from 2024 and accounting for close to 5% of all new car registrations, the SMMT said on Friday. The increase coincides with the rapid expansion of electrified vehicles — including battery-electric, hybrid-electric and plug-in hybrid models — which together captured more than 48% of the UK market last year.
Sales of green battery-electric vehicles almost doubled to 23,249 units, the SMMT said, suggesting that the colour is increasingly associated with the country’s decarbonisation drive and the transition away from internal combustion engines.
“Manufacturers are responding by expanding model ranges, colours and finishes,” said SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes, as quoted in a statement accompanying the data.
While car colour choices are rarely a core business metric, they can reflect changing consumer sentiment. In recent years, UK buyers have overwhelmingly favoured neutral shades such as grey and black, a trend that prompted Olivier Francois, chief executive of Fiat, to publicly advocate for more vibrant colours in 2023.
Despite the growth in green cars, grey remained the UK’s most popular vehicle colour for the eighth consecutive year in 2025, followed by black — particularly favoured in the executive segment — then blue and white, the SMMT said.
The shift comes as the UK presses ahead with policies aimed at reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2035, with electric vehicles seen as a central pillar of that strategy. Industry analysts say the rising visibility of EVs on British roads may be gradually broadening consumer preferences beyond the muted palettes that have dominated the market for much of the past decade.
