In college, my roommate Ross drove a cute little Volkswagen Beetle and received endless ribbing from me and the four other guys in our house because we thought it was a car that upper-middle-class girls get on their Sweet 16 birthdays. Now, based on a demographic study from TrueCar that found the Beetle as the top vehicle favored by women, it turns out our juvenile taunts at least had some scientific justification.
Reviewing 13 million vehicle registrations and 200 models, TrueCar found only nine vehicles registered to more women than men. Overwhelmingly, more men register vehicles, making up 64% of all vehicle registrations but only 49% of the population.
Of the nine vehicles, the Beetle came in first, with women accounting for 56.1% of its registrants. Following the Beetle were the Nissan Rogue (53.5%), Hyundai Tucson (53%), Volkswagen Eos (53%), Volvo S40 (51.9%), Honda CR-V (51.3%), Kia Sportage (50.5%), Toyota RAV4 (50.4%) and Nissan Sentra (50.1%).
TrueCar warns that the number of women registering cars is different from the number driving or buying them, so these numbers may not reflect precisely who is behind the wheel — Ross being the best example.
What Women Want — in a Car (Wall Street Journal)
