BASF debuts color trends at Detroit auto show booth, with Lava leading the North American trend

DETROIT — A shade reminiscent of a volcanic explosion represents North America's latest car color trend, auto coatings supplier BASF said at the Detroit auto show.

BASF showcased the shade Lava at the show Wednesday. The color represents a crossroads of high technology and sustainability, BASF designers said.

Lava, a charcoal gray with red undertones, is one of several key colors assigned to global regions, including a coppery beige for South America, a pearl-like ivory for Asia Pacific, a rich yellow for China, and a metallic gold for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

BASF's Automotive Color Trends team creates an annual palette to stir creativity in the auto industry.

The latest collection, called New Array, is meant to inspire automotive designers' future mass-production plans. BASF estimates the 2022-23 palette could be "on the road or in your driveway" in three to five model years.

BASF customers can expect to sample more than 50 shades to influence or add to their collections, said Liz Hoffman, lead color designer for the Americas. The palette draws inspiration from fashion, industry, nature, technology and more.

Designers focused on sustainability and function, Hoffman said, such as eco-friendly coatings made with upcycled materials and colors compatible with lidar, a sensing system used for autonomous vehicles.

New Array's theme reflects society's changing values, including an evolving definition of luxury, Hoffman said.

"What we might have valued within that space in the past might have been a little bit more superficial," Hoffman said.

Sustainability "is becoming more celebrated and talked about and marketed as a value that goes hand in hand with luxury," Hoffman said.

It's tough to trace which of BASF's color trends are on current vehicles, said Alan Baker, a BASF spokesman.

"I would say that about half of all the vehicles on the road globally have at least one layer of BASF paint in their finish," Baker said.

In 2021, the coatings division generated about $3.42 billion in global sales, according to a BASF statement.

BASF, in Ludwigshafen, Germany, ranks No. 9 on the Automotive News list of the top 100 global suppliers, with estimated worldwide sales to automakers of $21.35 billion in 2021.