Human men and women. You know how the saying goes: Can’t live with them, can’t live without them. Actually, no one says that. Perhaps the Klingons or Twil’leks, who’ve clandestinely visited Earth over the years, think such things after visiting our planet. Or not. Regardless, men and women have different tastes when it comes to cars. That’s not an absolute statement, but Cars.com recently released some gender-based data regarding vehicle tastes among men and women. You might be surprised at what they found.
Cars.com released figures based on most popular brands, most popular vehicles, and most popular car features between men and women. For brands, women and men’s tastes are actually pretty similar. Men’s top choices are Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota and BMW. Women put Nissan in third place and Toyota in fourth. Women only had one luxury automaker in the top ten, which was BMW. Men were a bit different. Four luxury automakers were in the top ten. Mercedes, Audi and Lexus made their top ten in addition to BMW.
From top left to bottom right, the above photo displays women’s top four picks. Definitely no surprises there. But the Escape’s top four appearance probably explains why the redesigned 2020 model pivoted away from a more truck-like exterior.
By contrast, men’s top four picks tilt to trucks and muscle cars. No pickups made women’s top ten, but four pickups appear on the guy’s list. The Ram 1500 and Toyota Tacoma are number five and nine, respectively. The women’s list had six sedans, while just two showed up on the men’s side. Three compact crossovers made women’s top ten but none of them ranked high for men. The Jeep Grand Cherokee showed up on both lists though. Ford’s Explorer is number ten for men, which perhaps explains the new ST model.
As for features, women preferred more practical equipment while men desired more tech-oriented stuff. Although a backup camera earned the top spot on both lists. Automatic emergency braking is another popular feature for both genders. Men prioritized smartphone integration and premium audio too. Otherwise there weren’t too many surprises there.
Any other surprises? Just one. Dodge ranked number ten for men. As a performance oriented brand that tends to market their products towards individuals with a Y chromosome, it really seems like Dodge should’ve ranked higher. Then again, perhaps most guys would go for a truck rather than a Dodge Charger or Challenger. In any event, the full list definitely deserves a quick look.
On the features list:
9. Smartwatch integration: 19% women and 22% men
Well now I feel old. What the heck is this and why would anyone want it? (I get the desire for phone integration)
Ha! I was recently on a Lexus site where some millennial was all upset because his phone app that was supposed to tell him how much gas was in his car wasn’t reading the same as the gauge on the dashboard. Oh the horrors!
takes phone and car keys from millenial…
moves Uber and Lyft apps to the homescreen…
returns phone but NOT car keys to millenial…
When Baby Boomers say “millennial”, they often mean Gen Z, who are younger. Millennials are mostly in their ’30s now.
Stereotypes about American millennials (and Gen Z) usually result from wealthy urban and suburban dwellers and are rarely applicable to those who work a trade or live in flyover country.
The millennials who frequent curbside classic (myself included) probably fall well outside the stereotypes.
No intent to denigrate millenials, GenX, or any other young whippersnapper group, I promise. You can transplant anything in its place in my comment–my larger point is that people now seem far more interested in infotainment than the vehicle, and far more than paying attention and operating it safely and deliberately.
Aside from a premium sound system and a moonroof, all of these features are unnecessary at best and potentially bad ideas at their worst. The ultimate decision-making authority should always be with the driver, not software.
I welcome you to Jurassic Park, it’s nice to have some company!
Just don’t invite the T-Rex along for the ride! 🙂 And about the tech stuff, one of few things out there I actually appreciate is the backup camera. I notice there are no types of VANS whatsoever in any of the preference lists. I’M another one in the minority apparently…
The premium sound systems and touchscreens mean very little to me. Since ‘classic rock’ and `40s music is only available on Sirius radio, I`d opt for that. Since most of today`s music isn`t worth listening to, I generally listen to talk radio or news.And, since I`m not a ‘techie’, the less tech catnip a car has, the better for me.
It’s an overpriced ugly watch that you have to charge constantly and have to tap to see the time.
I’m a millennial, and I’m a Casio guy.
I don’t wear a watch. Nothing important can happen until I’m there, thus making the time of day irrelevant to me.
Best comment of..well…ever!
People are unreliable. I drive for a living. The general public sucks at.
I don’t want a smartwatch. I got the time on my phone and does all it can do on a bigger screen. A high-quality analog watch that I would wear for special occasions would be all I ever wanted, and even then it’s not a top priority.
I didn’t see where they defined the study. Was it a survey? Or was it who bought or registered the car? I could see that a significant number of cars were bought and registered by the man, but driven by the woman.
I’m obviously not in those research groups. Every time I see one of those trucks, such as the Ford and Chevy in the men’s group all I can see is this…seriously
The other example are cars with the big gaping maw of a front grille with Lexus leading the way. I see those grilles and simply wonder how could one find that attractive at all. Once again this comes to mind in the back of my head…
Ugh, agree! And it’s just getting worse/more widespread. This is one design trend I will be thrilled when it’s over!
As long as I can’t see the front of my Lexus from the drivers seat, I’m good!
“Yes, let the hate flow through you!!
Something, something…dark side…”
Amen, tbm3fan.
I’m not at all clear on the methods used here. Looks like metadata analysis of search results on their website.
The popular features list is a pretty good statement on why cars are the way that they are today.
Not surprised by the survey results. Pretty much the same as it ever was, right…?
As for feature preferences, I agree that backup camera systems are great (and so are front view cameras for that matter), but some are much better than others. The best have the “active” backup path display that dynamically swings as the car moves, combined with proximity sensors. An example of a good one is what’s on my ’15 Ford F150, which works great (and, boy, does it need it!).
As for auto-emergency braking…eh, no thanks, unless you’re maybe 75 or older. The auto-braking system on my wife’s Ford Edge is so sensitive – and so annoying – that I’ve put electrical tape over the stupid red warning light bar on top of the dash, and I never select/use the actual auto-braking feature. Ugh.
As for other common electronic safety “nannies” … blind spot warning: in general, two thumbs up. Lane departure warning: useful at night on long road trips, but otherwise it’s just annoying. Adaptive cruise: generally useful, although some systems work much better than others.
Blind spot warnings, lane departure warnings, and backup cameras are all expensive band-aids for:
(1) shrinking greenhouses resulting from government crashworthiness standards
(2) the desperate state of driver incompetence and cognitive laziness.
Cruise control is supposed to maintain a constant speed, so it would seem to me that cruise control that fails to do that is not actually cruise control anymore.
We have abandoned the most critical safety feature in any vehicle: the driver’s brain.
I don’t disagree with you in principle. But not tall drivers are lazy or inattentive and these types of systems, if they work well, can be very helpful in certain situations.
Like with blindspot warning, on my truck I find it very helpful, especially in really heavy freeway traffic where I may not be able to safely swivel my head around several times to check for a vehicle that may in my blind spot in the lane I want to move over to. This feature in my F-150 works very well. In my wife’s Edge, though, it doesn’t work as well.
So-called “adaptive” cruise control, like I said in my post, works better in some cars than others, but I have found it useful under certain conditions.
But, yes, I agree that some of these systems can make already “lazy” or inattentive drivers even more so.
Amen. While I find these systems an absolute necessity in almost every modern car I have driven, I find it absolutely bonechilling when I’m driving one, look back and check the mirrors like I traditionally do and the blind spot monitor beeps or the mirror lights up because I missed the giant pickup that was obscured. It encourages you to surrender your trust completely to the sensors.
I don’t mind adaptive cruise. All it does is take away the distraction of fiddling with the coast and resume buttons on the steering wheel.
And then there’s a third sub-category, CC’ers. Our favorite brand is a tie between Tatra and Studebaker, with anything SlantSix powered in third and Peugeot in fourth. Bottom of the list is also a tie, between Mitsuoka and Zimmer. Favorite feature is chrome bumpers; next is a column-shifted manual transmission. Bonus points for a 5 speed.
I agree. Make that a rear air-cooled V8 installed in a “coming or going” ’47 Stude sedan. I’d appreciate the column shift as long as it’s connected to an automatic transaxle in the front, with on-demand FWD. Air conditioning and power steering are a must. And 8 airbags. No other high tech needed, though.
Wow.
Lotta Ford and Chevy at or near the top of those lists. If I were them, I’d take this as a challenge to raise my game.
Can you imagine if every GM were as well-designed and executed as the final Impala?
Interesting that buzz brands Subaru and Mazda aren’t represented on any of the four lists. And Jeep scores no higher than sixth on any list.
Friend of mine recent bought a Kia Sportage when her Peugeot 307 cc was written off it has all kinds of creature features in it, lane departure assist smart cruise both of which she describes as a pain in the arse, now she has discovered the transmission has a tiptronic feature like her old Pug had, I’m sure these can all be turned off if they become too much of a pest.
Looks like a rather informal study, but interesting nonetheless – particularly about men being more emotional than women in car purchasing. I can see that being the case.
Ironically, since we’ve been married, my wife and I have bought three cars together, but I don’t remember any disagreements over models or equipment — which of course made the carbuying experience much more pleasant than it otherwise would have been.
One car that I looked to see if it were mentioned in this report was the Nissan Rogue; I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man driving one.
My wife likes extremes, a few years ago her favorite vehicles at the auto show were the Fiat 500 and the Ford Raptor. That said her most critical features are being able to see over the steering wheel and reach the pedals since she is rather short. Her current wish car is a Ford Ranger crew cab, make of that what you will
Then again we are both outside the norms, prioritizing function over features and preferring Mazda over the larger/fancier brands.
Not a single Mazda to be found on either list, not even the Miata. That is not a good sign
I must be an out of touch 30 year old since the enhanced sound system sounds nice as does the backup camera, but not the other features which I don’t see myself using.
Ill admit I’ve never used that site. I just did a bit of poking around, and maybe for a straight up non-car oriented consumer, it might be helpful. The part about Dodge not ranking higher with men piqued my interest. After taking their ’car quiz’, it becomes obvious this site is a joke as far as any relevance for the customer who has an enthusiast streak. I picked both ‘rugged capable trucks’ and ‘sporty performance’ as my categories (only ones remotely appealing) and exactly ZERO Dodges were present, or even mustangs. When I eliminated the trucks for pure performance, I got the challenger (no Charger or 300), the GT500 and a smattering of import sedans and coupes. When I looked at all coupes, the consumer reviews were laughable! VERY few had feedback at all, but the Supra (is it even out?) had 5 that are obviously shills.
Keep in mind I didn’t sign up for anything so no references to me my demographics at all. If browsing, researching or buying, I can look at whatever I want. I don’t suspect too many educated customers would bother, honestly. I consider myself as such, and there’s literally ZERO information available on anything im interested in that I didn’t have well before. I wouldn’t take this Cars.com article seriously at all.
I’ve found a couple of vehicles on cars.com, it is the best place to find the inventory from most new car dealers in my area and it works pretty well to narrow the displayed vehicles down to the correct trim level, power train, certain options and even color.
I wouldn’t recommed it for research and definitely wouldn’t use the car quiz to let them tell me to buy what ever advertiser is paying them to promote.
I can see that. Autotrader is my go-to. Gives the broadest sweep of what’s available in my area.
Judging by the attention and positive remarks my two Challengers have gotten over the last 9+ years, it seems very odd it’s not at the top of the best looking lists of both sexes. The 2010’s color (Hemi Orange) was disliked by a lot of women for some unknown reason. My mother said, “What? It’s Orange?” when I told her I bought it. Other negative comments from women have been, “I love your car, but the color is stupid!”, “I hate that orange!”, and the best one, “They didn’t have a better color?”. So far, my present car has had zero negative comments in the 17 months I’ve had it. Everyone seems to like the TorRed even people who think it’s too “flashy”, or buy into the “Arrest me Red” BS.
What a bunch of baloney.
Transportation needs are objective.
Cost is objective.
Transportation is not based on gender.
It is based on need and affordability.