Car buyers in Northland love silver, despite a preference for white in most of the country.
A record number of new vehicles were registered in New Zealand in January, according to NZTransport Agency data, nearly a quarter of which were white.
In Northland, nearly a third of new car buyers chose silver, with only 20 per cent opting for white.
Whangarei man LJ Mackie chose black for his new Toyota Hilux, which was delivered last Friday.
"I was going to buy a white one but I changed to black."
The model with the extras Mr Mackie chose just looked better in the darker colour, he said.
Black is the fourth most popular colour choice in New Zealand, after white, silver and grey, but it is less popular in Northland, trailing red and blue.
Aaron Budrewicz, general manager of Northland Toyota, said colour choice is all about personal preference and he had not noticed any particular trend.
"It's a very personal thing and each model is slightly different," he said.
New features such as daytime running lights make the relative safety of colours less of a consideration than they were in the past, said Mr Budrewicz.
Several different colours have been identified as the safest in various studies.
One New Zealand study in 2003 suggested silver was the safest colour, but later Australian research found it was one of the least safe.
Yellow and orange were particularly unpopular colours in Northland, with each making up less than 1 per cent of all new vehicles registered.
They were only slightly more popular at a national level, with yellow comprising 1.2 per cent of new car sales and orange 1.6 per cent.
There are limited choices when it comes to most new vehicles, with some available only in shades of grey, silver, black and white.
Companies were reluctant to import cars in unpopular colours in case they fail to sell.
Grey and red were the next most popular colours in the region, making up 13.7 and 10.7 per cent of new vehicles.
New registrations were up 16 per cent on January last year, with 13,425 new cars and other vehicles registered in just one month.
In Northland, 473 new vehicles were registered in January, 143 of which were silver.
Silver was also the most popular colour for 2016, making up 34.5 per cent of all new vehicle registrations in Northland.
Despite the regional trend, Mr Budrewicz said car colour was a very individual choice.
"It's very personal, the same as the colour of clothes you wear," he said.
Northland car colours registered in January 2017.