Minnesota's "blackout" plates top 50K sales in first 100 days
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota's "blackout" license plates are off to a red-hot sales start.
In the first 100 days of 2024, the Department of Vehicle Services has sold 52,304 sets of plates.
"We thought for sure they were going to be big — did we think they were going to be this big? I don't think so," said Greg Loper of Minnesota's DVS. "The truth is, they look cool."
Cool, for some, is all it takes.At Automotive Concepts in New Hope, Chief Marketing Officer Nick Stanley said he started seeing the plates on customer cars nearly right away.
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"The main appeal is just that they're neutral in color; they don't detract from the design of your vehicle. They kind of blend in, but they're still very legible," he said. "I would say probably 25-to-30 percent of our customers that come through these doors have them on their vehicles already."
"People just want to have something different than what their neighbor has," said Dino Perfetti, President of Automotive Concepts. "People just want to personalize it, to make it theirs."
The plates are one of a several personalized plates debuted in 2024. What's unique about the blackout plates, Loper says, is the sales profit goes directly to DVS, which doesn't pull from the state's general fund. Loper says sales of these plates could help keep other fees low.
Thanks to the high demand, he says most sites where drivers renew tabs and registration have them on hand for purchase.
Looking cool, it turns out, goes a long way.
"There's a lot of black cars out there. There's a lot of white cars out there. This black and white plate goes really well with that color scheme. For a lot of people, the way their car looks means a lot to them," Loper said.
