What women want: Her favorite vehicles

By Bengt Halvorson

updated 12:59 p.m. ET May 14, 2008

When General Motors was planning its latest full-size SUVs, vehicle line director Mary Sipes had men on the development team dress in drag for a day.

They put on high heels, press-on nails and skirts made from garbage bags in an effort to determine how some women might feel getting into and driving a huge SUV.

The exercise helped expose issues with ingress and egress, as well as how to position and shape controls on the center console. But it was only one aspect of a larger process for understanding what motivates female buyers.

“Women are more complicated than skirts, purses and nails,” says Brigid O’Kane, a design professor and coordinator of the Transportation Design Track program at the University of Cincinnati. Even so, ease of entry and useful interior storage, including space for a purse, are elements that make vehicles especially attractive to women, she says.

To find out which vehicles women prefer, we compiled two lists. One looks at luxury vehicles most driven by women, and the other ranks the overall top 10 vehicles most driven by women, regardless of whether they are luxury or non-luxury.

Women generally demand more from their vehicles than men do and are more particular about a broader range of criteria. “There is a significant amount of overlap between what women and men want in car design,” says Tim Greig, interior design manager for General Motors Global Design. “What I've noticed in our market research, however, is that women tend to not only see the big picture but pay close attention to the details as well."

That’s why companies are starting to use “transparent” marketing as a way to attract women buyers without alienating men. This approach is based on the premise that women tend to have a longer list of shopping criteria than men, even though they might share some top priorities. Therefore, companies can attract both male and female buyers by focusing on the priorities of most women.

For example, if a man and woman each have a list of five desired attributes they consider when shopping for a car, the woman may have five additional desires that are lower in priority but still important.

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“If you can understand numbers six through 10, then you can attract women and over-deliver to men,” says Lisa Johnson, president of marketing firm ReachWomen and author of the book “Don’t Think Pink.”

Safety, comfort, practicality and value are top priorities for women car buyers, experts say. Styling, design and performance are also important, but not necessarily more so than practicality.

Our all-inclusive list of vehicles with the highest percentage of female primary drivers includes some of the smallest, least expensive cars available, such as the Honda Fit, Kia Spectra and Toyota Yaris. The Fit tops our list encompassing both luxury and non-luxury vehicles, with 80.46 percent driven primarily by women. Go to the “slide show” link below to see the full list.

In general, women tend to be more open-minded toward smaller vehicles than men. Many mothers on a tight budget will choose a smaller or more basic vehicle if it means having more money to send kids to college, O'Kane says.

To put into perspective women’s focus on finding the best value, consider that three models on our list that includes luxury and non-luxury vehicles with the highest percentage of female primary drivers are among the least expensive to own. The fifth-ranked Nissan Versa (60.58 percent of which have primarily female drivers), the fourth-ranked Toyota Yaris (61.86 percent), and the top-ranked Honda Fit (80.46 percent) all made our separate ranking of the Top 10 Least Expensive Vehicles to Own.

Women might be more inclined than men to buy smaller vehicles, but many prefer large models. Three sport utility vehicles made our list that takes into account both luxury and non-luxury vehicles: The Honda Pilot in seventh place (with 60.28 percent female primary drivers), the Mazda’s CX-7 in eighth (60.19 percent), and the wagon-like Chrysler Pacifica in 10th (59.81 percent).

“Women are looking for practicality and versatility,” says Alexander Edwards, automotive division president at consulting firm Strategic Vision.

In a recent survey by the San Diego-based research firm, 40 percent of women respondents said they prefer vehicles that provide the most comfortable ride, compared to 25 percent of men. “Most women look for comfort, but after that they look for something that is either capable, fun or both,” Edwards says.

Our other list of only luxury vehicles includes two SUVs: The Acura MDX in eighth place, with 51.23 percent driven primarily by women, and the Cadillac SRX in 10th place with 51.18 percent.

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