The female demographic has always been a rocky ledge for the automobile industry, and plenty of car makers have driven over it and into oblivion.
However, women have returned to industry scrutiny, and this time the industry might be doing the right thing by simply giving women what they want in a vehicle.
Rather than the days of old where car makers tried to lure women with gimmicks, companies such as Lincoln are crafting vehicles with the female driver in mind.
A search of old advertisements will show that virtually the only cars that depict women alone in the ads are station wagons, and the ads usually show the woman posing with an armload of groceries.
Almost all other ads from the early 1950s show women, with flowing scarves and bright red lipstick, sitting next to a male driver.
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The exception was when the automakers were marketing power steering or automatic transmissions and had a caption such as “so easy even a lady can drive it!”
In 1955, Dodge decided that women needed a car made especially for them and created the La Femme, which was simply a trim version of Dodge’s Custom Royal Lancer, according to Autoweek.
The car had a two toned paint scheme featuring colors such as “heather rose,” “misty orchid,” and “sapphire white,” and came with a matching interior. Standard features included a matching purse complex with lipstick, a makeup compact and cigarette case. If that wasn’t enough, the La Femme also came with a matching raincoat and umbrella.
The car only lasted three model years.
Obviously, the folks at Volkswagen did read their automotive history when they released the second generation Beetle. The so-called “New Beetle” came mainly in pastel colors and featured a bud vase on the dash.
As if!
Mostly, women were not considered when designing cars but did factor heavily in the attempt to sell them. Almost every muscle car ad from the 1960s features a bikini clad model posing seductively next to the machine. Teenage guys in the 1980s had to have a Jaguar after seeing Tawny Kitaen dancing on XJ in the famous Whitesnake video until they saw the price tag.
In today’s world, women are major consumers of cars. In fact, A 2013 study by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute found that female drivers outnumber males.
Manufacturers have responded by adding practical features rather than gimmicks to make their cars more attractive to the fairer sex.
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Quite a few of the features are subtle, such as vanity mirrors on both driver and passenger sun visors. Since most women tend to be shorter than men, rather than four way seat adjusters, most cars have a setting to bring the entire seat up for better visibility.
According to the website, A Girl’s Guide to Cars, Lincoln is leading the pack by combining its “understated elegance” with an interior designed as a “sanctuary” to almost emulate a rolling spa.
Not that gimmickry has been retired completely as Racked reports that some car makers have reverted back to the 1970s fad of brand pairing with fashion designers such as Cadillac offering the Saks Fifth Avenue version of some of its vehicles.
So, it may have taken over a century, but women are finally catching the eye of automakers for their buying power rather than their figures.
See you on the road!
Scott Hudson is the senior reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
