MARKET research shows that women influence 93 per cent of car-buying decisions and buy 65 per cent of new vehicles themselves.
So what cars do women want when their name is on the title?
Women go for smart-looking, affordable cars with high gas mileage, according to auto information website TrueCar.com.
Analysts at TrueCar sifted through 8 million auto purchases in 2010 to see what brands and models attracted a high percentage of men and women.
“The study shows that women car buyers are more cost-conscious and purchase fuel-efficient vehicles,” says Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry trends and insights at the website.
But good looks clearly don’t hurt.
The brand with the highest percentage of female buyers (48 per cent) is Mini, where every model makes you smile by just looking at it.
And the top individual model for women (61 per cent female buyers) is the appealing Volkswagen New Beetle.
Women appear to be more likely to pick brands with broad appeal (unlike men, who fixate on sports cars and pickups) so that even the top brands for women have plenty of male buyers as well.
Unlike men, women car buyers avoid high-performance cars with stratospheric prices. All but one of their top 10 models had a list price under $30,000.
