WHAT WOMEN WANT
More and more, auto manufacturers have to realize the potential women have on the ultimate purchase and are doing their best to satisfy demands women may have.
MULTI-FUNCTIONAL VEHICLES FOR THE WOMEN THAT HAVE THEIR HANDS FULL
When it comes to autos and women, well, there can often be a something of a love-hate relationship. But more and more, auto manufacturers have to realize the potential women have on the ultimate purchase and are doing their best to satisfy demands women may have.
“Women are making the decisions now,” said Annette DiLorenzo Thayer, managing partner of the Quality Mazda dealership. “The higher percentage is women making that decision regarding the purchase.” And nothing tops the list of desires like safety features, she said. “Moms are always interested in the safety rating,” Thayer said. “That’s something they’re always concerned. Especially for moms, that’s the No. 1 thing.”
That’s been driving changes at the manufacturers, said Lorie Holler, general sales manager for Fiat and Alfa Romeo of Albuquerque. “For safety features, the back-up cameras and plenty of air bags are important,” she said. “Some of them have built-in child seats, so you don’t have to worry about a child’s seat because it’s already there.” Car seats are definitely an issue, said Samantha Gunn of Land Rover Jaguar of Albuquerque. “We have a new thing called Isofix,” she said. “There are little latches that pop right off and the car seat goes right into it. It’s the nicest system ever.”
The new models that have built-in sensors as added safety features are also very important, Holler said. “And assist-to-lane departure is great so if you start to go into the wrong lane, the cars have different sensors so either the seat will vibrate or in some, there will be beeping sound when you’re starting to go in,” she said. “Most women I know prefer the beeping sound. I know if I feel the seat vibrating, I think something is broken.”
The more help to keep in touch with what’s going on outside the car while dealing with distractions inside the car is absolutely essential for moms in particular, said Gunn, who has one child and also frequently also has her sister’s three children.
“There are a lot of tools that help you drive,” she said. “We have a blind spot monitoring package, so if a car is coming up, even if it’s not in the blind spot yet, your rear-view mirror is going to flash and it will say a car is approaching.” And one Gunn said she really likes is the traffic-sign recognition technology. “There’s a camera right by the rear-view mirror by the windshield,” she said. “IT’s great for instance if you’re going through a construction zone and goes from 75 to 65, then from 55 to 45, it picks up each one of those signs, it goes live on the speedometer so you can see it. Sometimes it’s hard to pay attention to everything that’s going on so it’s nice to know there is something to help.”
When it comes to moms, bigger is gen-
erally better, Holler said, but it’s got to have certain look apart from a boxy van. “From what I’m hearing from women, they want something that can fit their children but doesn’t look like a soccer mom van,” she said. “Something that’s fun to drive, like any SUV and with lots of room in the back so you can fit soccer equipment.” It has to be big enough to tote plenty of kids around, as well. “A mother that has children, they want the third row because the kids always have friends with them,” Holler said. “They always want the room for kids and their activities and can carry more than four passengers in the vehicle. And they want all the accessories like the blue tooth and screens in the back to keep the kids entertained.”
Moms frequently have their hands full either with packages or kids, so having the door open hands-free without having to dig for the key fob is a tremendous convenience, Gunn said. “A lot of our cars have a convenient package where the doors will unlock automatically when the key is within a 3-foot radius of the car, she said. “It just makes it a lot easier.” Climate control packages are also becoming quite popular with women, Gunn said.
“That’s really nice for Albuquerque because you never know what kind of weather you’re going to get in Albuquerque,” she said. “We have heated steering wheels and heated windshields that automatically melt the snow right off the windshield. Heated and cooled front and rear seats.” For the woman sans children, having a ride that looks good is important, Holler said.
“They want something like the (Alfa Romeo) Giulia or (Fiat) Spyder, which are both fun to drive, but they have all the safety features, back up camera, lane assistance and they’re really great on fuel because they’re always looking for it to be economical. They want all that but they want it to be economical,” she said But it’s really about the look. “It’s all about the styling,” Holler said. “They want it to look to fun and be fun to drive. Have nice wheels. It’s about the color, too. The color is very important. They like the blues, reds, bright colors. They’re not into the silvers or the blacks. The pretty blues, even orange has been a hot color, which is very interesting. Visibility is tops, it has to have very good visibility.”
Beside all of this, a woman wants respect from the dealership and the people who work there, Thayer said. “A lot of it is how they’re approached, in service especially,” she said. “Women are really loyal, especially if treated with respect. That’s the main issue. They don’t want anyone to assume they need anybody else to make a decision. If they’re treated with respect, especially in service, they’re really loyal to the dealership.”