The FINANCIAL — Inferno Orange is the second-most requested color for Chevrolet Sonic hatchbacks, accounting for nearly one in five dealer orders and signaling a new color trend in the subcompact market. Its popularity trails only the ever-popular black hatchback.
Pantone named PANTONE 17-1463 Tangerine Tango the Color of the Year for 2012, recognizing orange’s widespread appeal and prominence. Taking cues from the fashion, architecture and furniture industries, Sonic’s design team monitored color to identify hues with longevity that best fit the Sonic attitude.
“Fashion houses can quickly jump on the latest color craze, since their products are designed for shorter life spans, but long-lasting Chevy vehicles must feature colors that will remain attractive and on-trend for multiple years,” says Michelle Killen, lead creative designer in the color and trim studio and exterior paint expert at General Motors Design. “We had a strong feeling that Sonic’s Inferno Orange would hit the trend at the perfect time and hatchback drivers would embrace it.”
Orange, a staple of Corvettes and Camaros, is firmly ingrained in the performance vehicle market. With the Sonic’s turbo-charged engine and Corvette-inspired handling, the design team wanted to visually express its fun-to-drive personality, Killen said.
As General Motores reported, Chevy design experts predict orange will remain a color trend in the future, transitioning from the bright, chic tint of today to a more burnt, coppery finish in the years to come.
Discussion about this post