A Passionate Palette

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Chrysler Group LLC: Chrysler Corporate Blog - Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, Mopar, GEM

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September 23, 2009 2:48 PM

A Passionate Palette
Scott Anderson - Editorial Director, Online Media

Jim Parker likes to talk about color. He likes to hear people’s reactions to color – good or bad – whether it’s among designers debating the latest hues at Chrysler Group LLC product design studios, next-door neighbors chatting between driveways, or among anonymous commenters on his favorite automotive blog. What he doesn’t like is when people don’t have a reaction about a new color.

“Everyone has an opinion and a passion about color and I love that,” says Parker, Manager-Chrysler Color & Trim Studio. “So when (customers) don’t like something, we listen. When they do like something, we listen. What we don’t like is when we don’t hear anything about it because that means you’re probably not really hitting your mark.”



Jim Parker with his own Dodge Challenger SRT8 in his favorite color.

Parker recently spoke with me about selecting the 2010 lineup of exterior colors, which includes the much-anticipated heritage hue “Plum Crazy” as well as the explosive “Detonator Yellow” for the 2010 Dodge Challenger.

At the studio, Parker explains that he and other designers don’t research demographics to decide the next color. They research lifestyles, and what really motivates people to select a particular color, and therefore a car brand, that encompasses their lifestyle.

In the above video, Parker talks about how paint technology has advanced by leaps and bounds in just the last few years. This means more finely touched pigments and a wider selection of subtle hues can be brought to cars and trucks for the first time.

For us car lovers, the future looks pretty colorful indeed.