I’M indebted to the news boys at Headlineauto for this little gem. But it involves you – and the colour of the car you drive or will be driving in the future.

I don’t know what you think, but colour can be so critical. Once white was such a no-no. Now it has a premium for certain cars, or so my mate Richard Crosthwaite tells me over at the car valuing people Glass’s. It certainly works on my wife’s Fiat 500 – but that’s partly through retro associations.

I do know that some leasing companies throw in metallic paint at no charge, for example, simply because it improves the residual value of the car at the end of the contract hire lease.

But back to the future. Instead of choosing something like midnight blue, how about Denim? Apparently a classic blue with a high effect sparkle.

Or Cognac? Not quite sure here about the drink-driving associations, but we’ll pass that one by for the moment. Anyway, Cognac is a rich coppery warm brown with an iridescent highlight.

Then there’s Silky Silver, a liquid silver look with a slight bronze cast. Or Moonshine Blue (are we back on the alcohol theme here?), a pale silvery blue like the reflection of the moon on a lake; and Wicked, a sinister green color inspired by couture fashion.

I’ve not made this up – come on, I’m not that whimsical! – but these are truly some of the colours revealed to carmakers in Detroit this week by paint manufacturer PPG Industries.

Jane Harrington, the company’s colour styling manager, explained: “Colour is an important component of how today’s carmakers can define and differentiate a vehicle or brand in the marketplace.

“The palette of colors being developed for the automotive market is clearly being influenced by culture, nature, fashion, movies, media, electronics and many consumer products.”

So there you are.

Despite introducing these exotic new colours, PPG revealed that silver once again seems to be the choice of car customers around the world. However, green is definitely out of favour – so not much chance for Wicked then.

For the 10th successive year, silver has ranked as the most popular vehicle colour in the world according to PPG. In fact, silver’s popularity is at its highest since 1990 when the data was first recorded.

Fortunately for me and my Audi, black was the second most popular. Perhaps that colour agonising is worth it after all.

Business Car Manager: Editor’s Blog on car colours