What women want when it comes to cars

Why is there such a stigma attached to women drivers and the cars they drive? As a female who drives I just don’t understand the common assumption that all women must wish they had a pretty, small ‘cute’ car that looks like something out of a cartoon – preferably in pink or lilac – regardless of whether the car is actually any good. Personally, I have never known any girls who want that.Oh ok, so maybe there are a few. But they are definitely a minority. And unknowingly they are fueling a stereotype that will surey continue to plague women drivers for many countless years to come.

Almost all car manufacturers have at least one model which people consider to be their ‘girly’ option. The Ford Ka is an obvious example of this, and was clearly designed with women in mind – it’s small, cute and almost bubble-shaped – and indeed about 70% of sales are to women. Other cars that have a reputation for being girly include the Renault Clio and the new VW Beetle. But do women really choose to buy or lease these cars because of the way they look, or is it just that the majority of women want different things from their car than the average man?

The thing people don’t seem to realise is that there’s a difference between a ‘girly’ car and a car that a girl would drive. A car that is girly would be small, cute and aesthetically pleasing, and a lot of men seem to assume these are the only things that a woman would look for in a car. In fact, statistically most women base their choice more on the car’s reliability and proven performance in safety tests. Men are far more likely to go for a sporty, fast, slick-looking car whereas women usually just want something that will get them from A to B without breaking down.

Another marked difference between men and women is how much they are willing to pay for their vehicle. Men are actually much more image conscious than women when it comes to cars – they want to impress and are far more likely to splash out on an expensive sports car. If, say, they were interested in the Audi Q7, a male customer is far more likely to want to buy it outright rather than considering other options such as Audi lease deals. It’s not so much about the car as the image and status that comes with it – and how exactly is that any different to choosing a car for its ‘girly’ shape?

In fact, given the choice and if cost was not an issue, I’m sure many women would probably love to get a more expensive car. Maybe not so much an unnecessarily over-the-top sports car but something like a sleek Mercedes – they’d just probably be more likely to take a more sensible option like an affordable Mercedes lease agreement than splash their cash and buy it outright.