Back in Black!

The fashion industry is obviously an arena that no car journalist worth his salt would be ranting and writing about, so you might wonder what has possessed me to write about it? Well, without sounding silly or pushing my luck with the Editor In Chief, the truth remains that fashion also has a strong implication on automobiles!

Sounds too far fetched? Well think about it. An automobile is the ultimate in fashion accessories. After all, what good would a 3 lakh rupee Gucci suit be if you were to wear it while puttering around on a 100cc motorbike? For such a suit the starting line in automobile fashion accessories would be at least a BMW 5 series if not something swankier.

But auto-fashion doesn't just end there. Everyone who owns a car is extremely picky about the color. Why? The answer is simple, the car needs to look good, you need to look good in your car, and together you need to make a statement! Surprisingly similar to the world of fashion isn’t it! After all you are what you wear and by extension of that thought, you are what you drive.

Speaking of colors, do you know that very much like the fashion industry, black is the latest 'in' color for the automobile industry too? Earlier, silver dominated the list as the color of choice on automobiles, but over the past few years it has been noticed that black is rising as a strong contender for that top spot. Recently Volvo did a study and has noticed that over 25.5 per cent of all their cars sold are black in color. Considering that each model has at least 15 different colors, this number becomes more substantial. Other manufacturers have noticed this trend as well. In India too this trend is growing, despite the heat of summer, people are buying black cars. The importance of the color can also be witnessed in the fact that just about every new car that has been launched in the past year or so is also readily available in black. Such was not the case, but it does support the theory that even the world of automobile can be influenced by the fashion industry.

The beauty of black lies in the fact that the color makes many statements in a single go. Black represents a level of elegance, yet it can be young, rebellious and tough. It's slightly underworld characteristics also add to its desirability and therefore works towards making it one popular color. Not all cars look good in yellow or red, but in black, even the worst looking machines gain a couple points over their other colored siblings (think Xylo, Logan...).

Will black become the ultimate car color? Well that remains to be seen, however as of now, black is surely making an impact, so if you are out in the market to pick up a new set of wheels, then you just might want to consider 'black' as your color, for keeping abreast with fashion is what this game is all about, and you are guaranteed to make that statement!