The new collection explores how ideas and inspiration can serve as “proxies” to guide design decisions in the automotive industry, bridging creativity and emotion with tangible realities.
BASF Coatings has unveiled its 2025–2026 edition of the Automotive Color Trends® collection, titled DRIVING THE PROXY.
Sustainability and innovation remain central to the collection, with several colours incorporating renewable or recycled materials, while advanced features such as multi-colour pigments and liquid metal-like finishes add visual sophistication. DRIVING THE PROXY showcases refined faux solids with smooth surfaces and subtle sparkle effects, alongside a shift towards warmer, emotionally resonant hues including reddish tones, mauves, and nuanced browns.
Automotive OEMs worldwide rely on BASF Coatings’ colour insights to inform future vehicle development, with some shades expected to appear on models within the next two years. From the 45 colours in the collection, three regional key colours highlight cultural and technological shifts unique to each region.
TESSERACT BLUE in EMEA – extended blue with a dimensional shift
TESSERACT BLUE is a vivid blue with green and violet highlights, created using advanced interference pigments. Inspired by geometric abstraction, it delivers a multidimensional surface that challenges perception and adds depth.
“We see that overlapping dynamics, such as climate changes and social fragmentation, are creating visible and symbolic voids and reshaping social norms. In this context, TESSERACT BLUE represents a change in perspective – what we call ‘filling the voids’. It offers a harmonious vision for automotive surfaces with inclusive, forward-looking solutions,” has stated Mark Gutjahr, Global Head of Automotive Color Design at BASF Coatings.
PHYGITAL MAGNETAR in Asia Pacific – the still surface of accelerated progress
PHYGITAL MAGNETAR is a warm, fluid metallic shade with bright white highlights, reflecting the region’s duality: relentless innovation alongside a desire for calm and clarity. Using advanced two-coat technology, the colour bridges the physical and digital worlds with a smooth, liquid-metal effect.
“We were inspired by ongoing conversations around ‘innovation fatigue’ in the Asia Pacific region. With its calm, expressive surface, PHYGITAL MAGNETAR creates a space where innovation becomes invisible, and design quietly redefines the future,” has commented Chiharu Matsuhara, Head of Automotive Color Design for Asia Pacific at BASF Coatings.
AUXETIC NEUTRAL in the Americas – where neutrality becomes identity
AUXETIC NEUTRAL is a rich, culturally inspired brown that redefines neutrality as a bold design statement. Its clean sparkle adds vibrancy and depth, producing a tactile, multidimensional surface. Influenced by fashion and industrial design, the colour reflects inclusivity and collective expression.
“Design today is less about individual authorship and more about collective expression. Neutrality — and even ‘anonymous authorship’ — have become tools for inclusivity, allowing diverse voices to coexist and shape identity. AUXETIC NEUTRAL reflects the desired qualities to navigate through this period, being a colour that embraces complexity, openness, while remaining distinct and memorable,” has added Mark Gutjahr.
BASF Coatings’ Colour Expertise
Each year, BASF Coatings’ designers analyse global trends in fashion, consumer behaviour, technology, and nature to inform the Automotive Color Trends collection. Automotive OEMs worldwide use these insights to plan future models, supported by BASF Coatings’ digital and virtual colour tools. Previous innovations, such as Bursting Blue, have already gained wide adoption in the automotive sector.