Car Dealers Pay Lip Service to Women But Can They Walk the Talk?

by That Car Girl

We all know the statistics only to well…

• More than 85% of women affect all car-buying decisions
• 68% of new car purchase decisions are made by women
• 34% of the marriages where women work, the woman out earns the husband
• 50% of traditionally male products, including automobiles are being purchased by women

However, in my experience in working for a large automobile group, this information has been "garbage in, garbage out". 

Just the other day I was reading about how Honda plans to release a Fit model that the company hopes will attract female drivers to dealerships.  Honda’s Fit She's theme is "adult cute" and will come in pink, brown and white colors that mirror popular eye shadow colors.  However, the "adult cute" theme will not be confined to the car's color.

The car will also have a special windshield that will cut 99 percent of ultraviolet rays to help prevent those annoying wrinkles, and additional technology in its air conditioner system will help improve the driver's skin quality.

It really makes on stop and wonder if the male-dominated, collective Auto industry has heard even one word about their women consumers wants or needs.

Let us just face facts, the fate of female-themed car models, has to this point, been what can only be categorized as a disaster of EPIC proportions.

Case in point: 

The Dodge La Femme - also laced in pink and a few other details. 

I must give Chrysler some credit for their efforts, after all, the La Femme came out in 1955 – a time when the average buyer was very different and less sophisticated than today’s buyer. 

Even then, the La Femme failed to attract a consumer base. After two years, Dodge ditched the pink model, with Edmunds rating it as one of the “50 Worst Cars Ever Made”.

But if this wasn’t enough...

At the Toronto Auto Show in 2000, Ford released a concept Windstar minivan that included (you’ll never believe this) a washer and dryer, refrigerator and microwave.

I don’t know about you, but I spend so much time commuting to and from work each day, the last thing I want to do is to cook dinner and do laundry in my car.

Without a doubt, automakers have been among the slowest of US businesses to appreciate the value of women as decision makers, according to the New York-based consulting group Catalyst. In a recent Catalyst survey of major corporations, just over 11 percent of top executives in auto-related companies were women, compared with more than 22 percent in publishing, nearly 16 percent in pharmaceuticals, 14 percent in railroads and 15 percent in mail and freight delivery.

Society has changed in the past 30 years, and women have far more buying power than ever. And, although studies have long suggested that women influence almost all car-buying decisions, statistics show that women are making more and more of those purchases themselves.

However, this is far from evident in the advertising in the auto industry - almost exclusively male-oriented - dominated by images for cars and trucks.

So far this year, women accounted for 36 percent of all new car and truck purchases, according to the Power Information Network, although some in the auto industry say the figure is closer to 45 percent.  In certain segments, especially compact cars and mid size cars, women make up nearly half of all buyers.  

However, old habits do not die easily and male-dominated car culture will no doubt follow the same suit.

As a woman, what’s your biggest pet peeve about the car buying experience?