Nissan Spent Over 2 Years Developing a New Paint Color, of All Things

We talk to a Nissan color designer about adding brightness to the grayscale palette that's dominated the modern car industry. The post Nissan Spent Over 2 Years Developing a New Paint Color, of All Things appeared first on The Drive.

Mar 10, 2025 - 19:36

Nissan Spent Over 2 Years Developing a New Paint Color, of All Things

Ever wondered what goes into choosing a new car’s color palette? In light of recent events, you might be surprised to learn that Nissan still has resources to throw at something like developing new paint finishes, but even in 2025, cars still need to draw eyes. If you’re going to be ugly, you’d better be the best, the cheapest, or equipped with whatever strange power source attracts people to the Tesla Cybertruck.

And if you want to call attention to the way your car looks, what better way to do it than with an eye-catching color—especially when you consider just how rare color is these days. More than 80% of cars sold worldwide leave the factory in a finish that could be replicated in grayscale. So when Nissan offered up color designer Yasuhito Oba to answer questions about the development of Aurora Blue Metallic for the 2025 Murano, we gladly accepeted.

And we started with the obvious: Why blue?

“Aurora Blue Metallic delivers on the ‘cool’ factor while maintaining a high-tech, modern impression,” Oba said. “It’s definitely not just another grayscale SUV.”

Notice how Aurora Blue Metallic looks different in full sunlight than it does at dusk—Oba’s team specifically worked to achieve that effect. *Nissan*

“When we develop a new color, we’re thinking about what makes a vehicle stand out and how it connects with the driver,” Oba said. “The first-generation Murano featured a stunning, bright Sunlit Copper paint when it debuted in 2003. So, for the 2025 model, we wanted something just as bold but with a modern edge.”

Even notwithstanding Nissan’s current financial situation, it takes a great deal of time and resources to develop a new color—”over two years,” in Aurora Blue Metallic’s case. Given the Murano’s mainstream positioning, Nissan can’t spend extravagantly on options that won’t move metal, but a unique finish can make a big difference in how a car is perceived, and not just in the showroom.

If you were paying attention when the first-gen Murano came out, this Sunlit Copper color was iconic. *Nissan*

“Color isn’t just about looks; it plays a big role in how a vehicle feels to its driver,” he said. “We put the same level of thought into paint as we do into design and technology. Aurora Blue Metallic was created to give Murano a more premium, distinctive presence on the road. Every vehicle, no matter the price point, deserves a color palette that reflects its character and what its drivers want.”

And Oba says that developing Aurora Blue wasn’t without its challenges.

“We have plenty of blues in Nissan’s lineup, but none like this. The biggest challenge was delivering the desired product in a relatively short amount of time,” he said. “Creating a brand-new hue from scratch meant many months of fine-tuning the formula, making tiny tweaks over and over to get it just right. The result: something unique not just to Nissan, but to the industry.”

While it might be a stretch to suggest that Nissan could make its way from the red back into the black by way of blue, exterior styling has gone from being one of Nissan’s weaknesses to one of its key strengths over the course of a single lineup overhaul. Even the Rogue is getting in on the fun, and Nissan has paired those styling improvements with meaningful changes under the hood.

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The post Nissan Spent Over 2 Years Developing a New Paint Color, of All Things appeared first on The Drive.