Across a range of sectors in the UK automotive industry, black has become the new white in terms of the most popular colour for people buying cars.

New research published by cap hpi questioned the nation's car dealers, with the results showing that a significant proportion of the different motoring sectors now see black as the most sought after colour.

Overall, 21.5 per cent of all new cars purchased in the convertibles sector are now black, while 29 per cent of group cabriolets are also this colour. In the large executive (28 per cent) and luxury executive (24 per cent) segments this was also the case, as it was for the mid-range car (22 per cent), sports (23 per cent) and SUV (25 per cent) markets.

Philip Nothard, retail specialist at cap hpi, noted that white has long been the top colour of choice among UK buyers, but this shade has now been superseded at the top of the colour charts.

"Our data shows that middle-of-the-road cars in black are better at holding value than any other colour," he commented.

"Customers are always likely to settle for the safest option and it would appear that they are thinking about what they can get at trade-in time, rather than taking any risks with brighter or whiter paintwork."

While black is famously a colour that is better at hiding those small imperfections, it seems a growing sense of caution has arisen among car buyers in recent months, although there were a few exceptions. Indeed, red remains the colour of choice among city car purchasers, while both the MPV and supermini markets favour silver.

More people may therefore be choosing black paintwork as part of efforts to maintain value in their purchase, but other shades still remain popular in some markets.