The cars women love

June 24, 2010

The Volkswagen Beetle is the car most likely to be purchased by a woman, according to a new national survey. [LA Times]

Just over 56 percent of people registering a new Beetle were women, according to the survey by TrueCar.com in Santa Monica. Women car buyers were found to favor smaller cars, and foriegn-made automobiles.

However, female buyers also tended toward small sport utility vehicles. The Nissan Rogue, Hyundai Tucson, Honda CR-V, Kia Sportage and Toyota RAV4 made up five of the nine vehicles registered by more women than men.

Kia was the brand with the highest percentage of female registrants with 45.8%, followed by Suzuki, 44.2%, and Mini, 43.9%. Subaru, Hyundai and Volvo also were popular with female buyers.

The highest percentage of male registrations leaned toward expensive, exotic brands such as Bugatti, 100%, Ferrari, 94.4%, and Lamborghini, 93.5%. When it came to mass-market vehicles, men tended to register trucks from General Motors, Chrysler and Toyota at far higher rates than women — well into the mid-to-high 80 percent range.