56 percent of new Beetles are registered to women. This custom pink new Beetle is registered to Barbie.
Vehicle registration data adds weight to the stereotype that men drive sports cars and trucks and women drive small, practical cars and crossovers.
A survey by TrueCar.com of more than 13 million cars over the last two years in the U.S. found gender differences in the types of cars that are registered to men and women. More cars are registered to men than women, with women making up only 36 percent of vehicles registrants even though the fairer sex represents 51 percent of the country's population. However, the data does not take into consideration the buying decision-maker or driver.
All the brands are registered to a majority of men, but a couple makes have a higher percentage of women registrants than others, and a handful of models are registered to a majority of women.
Kia, a brand known for reliability and affordability, is at the top of the short list of female-heavy makes, with almost 46 percent of its vehicles registerd to females, followed by Suzuki (44.2 percent), and Mini (43.9 percent). That's in stark contrast to truck-centric GMC and Dodge, which respectively have only 21.8 and 27 percent, respectively, of its cars registered to women.
And when it comes to exotic luxury sports cars, all Bugattis in the country are reigstered to men, and Ferrari and Lamborghinis are also overhwelmingly registered to males, with more 94.4 and 93.5, respectively. Porsche, with its relatively affordable Boxer, boasts the largest percent of female registrants with 18.4 percent.
When broken down by cars, female preference becomes more apparent; only nine cars are registered to a majority of women. The VW Eos (53 percent), the Huyndai Tuscon (53 percent), and the Nissan Rogue (53.5 percent) are most popular among women registrants, but no car is more girly than Volkswagen's new Beetle with 56.1 percent of the compact cars registered to women.
Cute factor aside, another reason women may be attracted to the new Beetle and the other "female-heavy" vehicles is the low price point. Women tend to avoid the car-buying process and let their husbands do the negotiating and closing, said TrueCar.com analyst Jesse Tropak in an L.A. Times article. However, many of the vehicles with women majority registrants are probably bought by women in their 20s and 30s who are single or do not have large families, he said.
source: L.A. Times
