For some models you need to wait for months. So you don't get to choose an exotic color, unless you agree to wait even more, like many months. I guess colors are chosen so people can suffer them. I like orange or yellow, but I wouldn't buy green. So they have white, gray and black.
I don't think that kind of package is as common - possibly because present days cars have substantial selling points.
They made a limited edition in orange. So in a sense, it is like you say. A special package, with the color as a signal.
There are a couple of pastel colors that I've seen in the streets that are gorgeous: something like peaches and a sky blue. Not out of the box, not sure how much is painting, of course it isn't something practical. You need to pay extra.
But the selling point of this car is its performance, I just happened to like the color :)
I remember my father furious about having to wait too long. That was 40 years ago. I always choose short times over color. Maybe next time...
Now buying a new car is something that is though about for a long time before performing the act (often along many months), is a commitment for a long time after the buying act, and in a majority of cases happens without any emergency while they already own a well functioning vehicle (or several), so why people cannot integrate this waiting period in their process? I don't think it is reasonable, but we can only observe as a fact that once they have made their final decision, they don't want to wait any more.
I've made a quick research and it seems that painting a car costs no more than two thousand euros, probably less. Next time, I will buy the white version (cheapest) and it will go to painting right away. I don't like the out of the box options anyway.