The sight of Joey Essex, Kirk, and Sam of hit TV show The Only Way is Essex driving around town in flash, white cars has sent demand for the once-unpopular vehicle colour soaring.
"We've seen a material increase in the number of people driving white cars, it's one of the top five colours for new car buyers," said Trevor Finn, chief executive of dealership group Pendragon, today.
"Every 10 or 15 years there's a cycle where white cars become very fashionable, and we're now in it."
Joey Essex drives a white Smart car on the show, Sam Faiers has a BMW in the same colour, whilst Kirk Norcross drives a white Range Rover. So too does Katie Price, her ex, the cage fighter Alex Reid - and Finn himself.
The trend helped Pendragon, which has more than 250 dealerships around the UK, post a 22% rise in pre-tax profit to £30.8 million for 2011.
The growth in demand for prestige marques like the new Range Rover Evoque as well as Aston Martin and Jaguar beat that of mass market cars.
"The Stratstone dealership and the premium end of the market performed better than [volume dealership] Evans Halshaw," said Finn. "Our Mayfair Land Rover dealer sells more Range Rovers than anywhere else in the country."
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