Chick cars
Automakers are paying more attention to what women car buyers want, even as they attempt to design cars with more unisex appeal
By Kristen Green, Globe Correspondent February 24, 2006
Gone is the Volkswagen Cabriolet. The matchbox-sized Mazda Miata adored by women has given way to the faster, edgier MX-5. Even the diminutive Toyota RAV4 has been muscled up.
Breaking News Alerts Has the chick car gone androgynous?
Automakers don't admit to ever purposefully making a car for just one gender, but over time certain types of rides have earned the sobriquet ''chick car." They tend to be petite -- even tiny -- sports cars, with appealing lines and a peppy but not overpowering ride.
But now automakers are trying to broaden the appeal of some car lines, in part to sell them to wider audiences. Models that had been hits with women have been redesigned to encourage men to give them a second look.
Toyota, for example, appears to have pumped steroids into its small sports utility vehicle, the RAV4. It dropped in a bigger V6 engine, lengthened the vehicle by 14 inches, and gave it sharper lines. Still, Toyota tried to maintain the sleek, aerodynamic look that appealed to women.
The redesign was prompted by complaints from focus groups that the RAV4 was too small and unsophisticated, said Toyota spokesman Bill Kwong.
''They were finding a lot of males were rejecting it because it was too cutesy. It was a little toy to them," Kwong said. ''We were trying to attract more male buyers by making it more rugged-looking, more muscular."
Women purchased 70 percent of RAV4 models last year. Toyota also wanted to compete with the Honda and its CR-V, also a small SUV, which was outselling the RAV4 in metro markets.
''It's really
a balancing act trying to get more rugged, but not so rugged that women are going to be turned off by it," Kwong said.
Indeed, about the only real girly car left on the market is the Volkswagen Beetle, two-thirds of which are owned by women in the United States.
In the right color or with a more powerful engine, a chick car becomes a car that appeals to both sexes -- such as Chrysler's PT Cruiser.
While not overtly designing chick cars, manufacturers are doing more than ever to keep women in mind as they develop models,
said Cynthia Price, women's marketing manager for the diversity initiative at General Motors.
GM formed its Center of Expertise on Diversity in 2001, responding in part to
statistics that showed women influence 80 percent of car purchases. Company officials realized they needed to appeal more to women, not only in marketing campaigns and on the sales floor, but also in the design stages, Price said.
''It's not about creating pink cars," she said. ''You run the risk of alienating certain groups if you say this is only for women."
The Mini Cooper has bridged the difficult divide between cute and girlish. It has been wildly popular with men, despite its tiny size and buggy shape.
''Our society has changed. That's why all the cars have changed," she said. ''It's a very, very unisex world."
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2006/02/24/chick_cars/
