Study says men love flashy speed, women prefer smaller imports
By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos
This might seem like a bit of a 'duh' moment, but according to TrueCar.com, men generally prefer bigger, more powerful vehicles, while women lean towards smaller products from import brands.
Before we delve deeper into the info, TrueCar's data comes from American buyers, but we'd bet that there isn't too much variance from Canadians.
Anyway, women preferred MINI, Nissan and Kia, with 14 brands whose ratio of female buyers was over 40 per cent. And of the 20 top brands among women, 16 of those were considered 'imports.' Only Buick, Chrysler, Fiat and Jeep made the cut.
On the other hand, it's no surprise that high-powered luxury and exotic cars were tilted heavily towards male buyers. Ferrari sold less than eight per cent of its cars to women in 2011... Both Bentley and Maserati were solidly in the 80 per cent range of male buyers.
When it comes to individual models, women were most likely to buy a Volvo S40, Nissan Rogue or Volkswagen Eos, while men gravitated towards the Porsche 911, GMC Sierra or Ford F-150.
For the full list of brands and models, check out TrueCar.com.
Justin Couture
Mark Atkinson
John LeBlanc
Posted by: Steve | 2012-05-02 8:03:08 AM
Perhaps it is women that like flashy fast cars but are unwilling to purchase them for themselves? I mean, Didn't a study from 2008 show that women are aroused by the sound of Ferrari/Maserati etc, but not from the sound of a VW Polo?
I don't drive a big safe boring Volvo S80 because it's sexy, I do so because I value the lives of my children.
So ignore what women spend on cosmetics & clothing, and what that does for their car budget. Instead convince yourself that women buy crap because women like small cheap cars. I mean, it's not an attractive fertile woman would be able to get a ride nice car if she didn't buy it herself...
Guys clearly buy gas guzzling, hard riding, loud vehicles because that is what is most comfortable for them, it has nothing to do with attracting younger women at all...
Posted by: Nikki | 2012-05-02 9:42:21 AM
Imports? Really? I would have liked to be a part of this survey. I just want to point out that not all women like driving around in tiny little kias or hear the rev of an overly-expensive Italian engine. The same goes for men too. We're Canadian. We need something strong enough to pull us through the winter and still be able to haul a$$ in the summer. And yes, Steve, I bought my own truck too :)