There Were A Lot Of Lime Green (Or Yellow?) Cars At The New York Auto Show

Despite the automotive world largely being full of boring-ass greyscale cars, especially in the U.S., it is heartening to see more automakers offering interesting, real colors on a variety of models. From affordable cars to exotics, it feels like there are more good colors on offer than we've seen in a long time. Green is especially coming back, doubling in popularity from 2024 to 2025 in the U.S. (from 2% to 4% of all cars, but still!), and that was apparent at this week's New York Auto Show.

While there weren't very many automakers displaying cars at the show, pretty much every brand that did had at least one green car on their stands, with some even having more than one green car. But beyond just greens in general, there was a shocking amount of lime green cars at NYIAS, to the point that many other auto journalist friends kept bringing it up to. Now, you might argue that some of these colors are more yellow or chartreuse or somewhere else in the citrus-y family, and you would be right, but for the sake of clicks let's say they can all be considered "lime green." Auto show lighting is notoriously bad, anyway, and in person these all really did read as green or green-ish. The most popular one at the show seemed to be the Fiat 500e you see above, appropriately painted in a color called Tennis Ball that's new for the Icona trim level this year.

Daniel Golson/Jalopnik

That color is also applied to the car's dashboard, and while the upholstery is off-white and not lime green, I've also gotta call out how much I like the repeating Fiat seat pattern, and the two-tone steering wheel. The exterior trim line now being chrome is a nice touch as well. White or black are standard exterior colors on the 500e Icona, but going for Tennis Ball costs just $250, so why wouldn't you? 

But I think my favorite searing green color was at the Subaru booth. Nearly every Subaru is offered in some sort of green, but the Crosstrek and Impreza hatchback are available in a fantastic hue called Citron Yellow Pearl. This one is a $395 option, and again, why wouldn't you? I think it really suits the Impreza's design language, especially an RS trim like this one that gets you those nice dark grey 18-inch wheels.

Daniel Golson/Jalopnik

What really tickled my fancy was that the RS model also gets you special cloth upholstery with red bands around the seats, including on the rear seats. It isn't a lot of red, and it isn't a super bright red, but it's definitely more than a little prominent. The seat centers also have a checkered fabric with bits of red in it, plus there's red stitching on the steering wheel, door panels and other interior components. Do metallic citrus green and racy red really go together? Who cares! I think it's a fun combination.

Probably the most traditional lime green was found on the Nissan Frontier. Every year Toyota introduces a new one-year-only color on its enthusiast-focused models, and Nissan has started doing the same with the Frontier's Pro-4X trim. This year's new color is the Citrus Strike you see here, a $495 option. Once again, duh, get that. I like the roof rack and rally lights on this one, too.

Andy Kalmowitz/Jalopnik

On the other side of the Nissan stand was the most yellow-y of the lime colors, and also the most expensive. The second-generation Nissan Kicks offers a bunch of real colors, including a blue and a brown even on the super cheap base model, but if you go for the top SR trim you can spend an extra $1,000 to get Yuzu Yellow Metallic with a contrasting Super Black roof. I think it suits the Kicks' design really well, and who doesn't love three-spoke wheels, too?

While not fully painted in lime, the Ford Bronco RTR at the show had a bunch of lime accents on the wheels, grille and graphics. Lamborghini had a Urus SE that, while not lime per se, was a nice bright apple-y green. Sadly Hyundai didn't have any Konas in the wild Neoteric Yellow color, nor did Chevy have a Corvette in the new Roswell Green Metallic, but it's nice to know there are even more brands out there really going for it when it comes to in-your-face greens.