How Ford chooses their colour range
The choice of colour for a car is an important preference and these days there are loads of colour options to choose from.
Also read: These 7 things could be damaging your car’s paint
Ford claims that the spectrum of colours available across the Ford South Africa range goes beyond the traditional colours of the rainbow in order to capture an even broader range of emotions: from Diamond White to Frozen White, Kinetic Blue and Deep Impact Blue, Mars Red to Race Red, to name a few.
In 1909, Henry Ford said that a customer can have their Ford Model T painted in any colour, as long as it was black. At that stage it was the dawn of the Ford assembly line and time was of the essence in order to achieve the fastest assembly-time possible. The fast-drying black paint was the quickest way to execute that, however, the famous quote was likely said in jest as Ford did in fact offer the Model T in a range of other colours.
“Nowadays customers have more options than even Henry Ford would have thought possible. Ford colour designers create colours of varying hues, shades and tones to ensure that customers can find that perfect colour for their car,” Ford comments.
The importance of naming colours
There’s a story behind the creation of ‘Pride Orange’ – the colour for the Ford Ranger Wildtrak. It was developed by the Asia Pacific design team and is assembled at the Ford Silverton Assembly Plant in Pretoria.
“Pride Orange is a powerful and vibrant orange that is inspired by the rich and rugged aesthetics of the African savannah. The word ‘Pride’ itself is derived from the visual impact of a pride of lions – proud, strong and impressive. This is exactly what the customer should feel when driving the Ford Ranger Wildtrak,” says Jeffrey Liu, manager, Colour and Materials Design of Ford Asia Pacific.
In South Africa the Ford Ranger is available in 10 different colours, the most popular choice being white according to the paint-shop at Ford’s Silverton Assembly Plant. According to Ford it takes the paint-shop about 12 hours to finish one paint job, using an average of six-litres of paint per Ranger – depending on the model derivative. Five coats are applied during the process: an anti-corrosion phosphate coat, electrocoating for rust prevention, primer, base colour coat, and a clear coat for shine.
Developing a Ford colour
According to Sofia Myrodellis, head of Colour and Materials Design at Ford Australia people tend to gravitate to certain colours because of their personality, profession, and even their culture and surroundings. She explains that all of the colours Ford developers create come directly from the inspirations they gather from months of research. These inspirations could be designs they see at furniture fairs or global trend shows, or even things they stumble across on their own travels.
Once a colour is created, designers turn their creative attentions to naming it. Many elements go into choosing a name, including the actual colour and the feeling it may evoke, and what nameplate it will be used on.
Choosing the right colour
There are many factors that dictate what colour a person chooses for their car and what emotions colours make them feel: black is perceived as having a cool factor, white is easy to maintain, and red is perceived to be aggressive. Why do people choose the colours they do? We asked Ford Motor Company South Africa employees what their favourite car colour is:
- “Frozen White is my favourite colour. When you compare Ford’s white with that of the other competitors, it appears to be brighter and glossier.” – Dorah Mmekwa, Senior Process Engineer, Paint-shop.
- “Pride Orange. Very cool and funky colour.” – Stephan Bezuidenhout, Plant Quality Manager.
- “I would say my favourite colour is Copper Pulse. It looks very mature but yet very attractive, it’s very hard to miss. Not many companies are using this colour for their cars, so it makes it still very exclusive to Ford.” – Lindiwe Khanyeza, Sales and Marketing Graduate.
- “Definitely red. It’s hot, beautiful and it screams fierce.” – Thandile Sibane, Team Member at Trim 4, TCF.
- “My favourite colour is now ‘Nitrous Blue. As the signature colour for RS, it’s unique and exclusive even in the Ford stable and as a tri-coat it has so many visual dimensions to it when standing in natural light.” – Kuda Takura, Ford Brand Manager.
When purchasing a car drivers look for something that moves them and something they may have an emotional connection with. Cars are so much more than just a mode of transport; they are personal statements, and an extension of a driver’s style, values and interests. This then leads us to the question – what does the colour of the car you drive say about you?
Source: Ford Motor Company