I would say AWD north of Tennessee or so...
Posted on 03/01/2016 8:53:17 AM PST by rickmichaels
Surprise, surprise: Female buyers still encounter sexism in the dealership.
So a man and a woman walk into a car dealership … nah, there’s no punchline. But it’s likely they will have a different experience.
A discussion I had recently at the Canadian International Auto Show about the role of women in the auto industry shifted around, as it always does, to a version of “What Do Women Really Want?” No matter how you examine it, this is still a heavily male-dominated industry that simultaneously courts women and turns them off. That pushmi-pullyu creature is real; they want our money but still overthink the ways to get it.
You’ve heard that magic statistic, that over 80 percent of car purchases are influenced by women. I’ve used it myself because I believe it. I also believe car purchases are influenced by men, by children, by pets and by cottages. While it’s nice to see the double X so heavily represented, I also hesitate to think that it has really made much of a difference in how cars are made, marketed and maintained for women.
Buying a car sucks. J.P. Ositguy, senior manager at the Alta Group in Toronto, agrees. “Buying a car can be an adversarial transaction,” he admits. Consumers are prepared for the worst, and sellers are prepared for consumers who are prepared for the worst. Everybody comes in loaded for bear and negotiations begin there.
I’ve watched car manufacturers believe they could design a car “for women.” I’ve seen pink cars and cars with flattering lighted mirrors and cars with weird door handles that I was supposed to prefer. Designing a car for women is a terrible idea; women want reliability, safety and good value more than they want something pink. But let’s talk about that color thing for a minute.
I’ve had more than one salesperson tell me, with a laugh, that they’ve had a woman walk into their dealership knowing little beyond that she wants a red car. It’s the laugh that pisses me off, not the fact that someone knows little about a prospective purchase, especially a large one. If you are a professional, it is your job to make sure you sell the right vehicle to that person. If the colour is their starting point, then it is now yours. I could ask someone I’d never met 10 questions and get a pretty good handle on what kind of car they need; it’s not that difficult, and if I’m selling cars, my job is to find the right 10 questions, not to belittle someone for not understanding a complicated industry. Buying and selling cars is a confidence game in the best and worst sense of the phrase.
The internet has changed much of this however, as Ostiguy notes. “Women spend more time researching before they set foot in a dealership; men spend more time after.” Women know the internet is a genderless way to ask questions and seek opinions, and Ostiguy also says women are better communicators. “They take advantage of more information, whether it’s through social networks or reviews, but they also research the sellers, not just the cars. Women are building a relationship, and people who successfully sell to women know it.”
The car industry knows a lot about you. They know women are more rational, and more likely to stick to a budget. They know men are more emotional and spend more. Older women are more skeptical because wisdom comes with age; I worded that last sentence myself.
What about thinking I’d prefer to buy from a woman? About 20 years ago, there was a push to get more women onto the sales floor. Because apparently, I’ll walk into a dealership and automatically trust another woman, as if our ovaries send out some kind of bat signal. Nope. I want a sales associate who will be honest, transparent and address the person asking the question.
At that same car show, a woman told me she walked out of a dealership because a sales rep consistently pointed out interior finishes to her while discussing chassis components with the man who was with her. She said she was the one buying the car, for herself. She asked about tire sizes; the rep opened the glovebox. She asked about the four-cylinder versus the six-cylinder; the rep showed her the stereo.
Where gender can make a difference is at the back of the house. Service managers have to be great communicators; they are the gateway between the customer and the person fixing the car. The sales transaction is actually such a small fraction of owning a car, I barely notice if I’ve been sold a car by a man or a woman. The ongoing relationship with that dealership, however, needs to be something I can count on. I’ve dealt with several female service managers – the people who explain what’s going on with your car when you bring it in – in the past, and I’d be happy to see more women in this important role. The automotive industry provides a lot of excellent career opportunities for women in every area.
As the way we buy and maintain cars changes, it is the very same soft skills that have historically put women at a disadvantage that will soon be what makes or breaks a dealership.
What do women want when they buy a car? I want to be respected for what I do know and be educated on the things I don’t. I won’t be swayed by a pink car unless I actually want a pink car. If you advertise the car, I want you to have it. If I say I don’t want expensive up-sells, I don’t want to be orphaned in some windowless sales office until I change my mind.
Honesty. Transparency. A good experience. The same thing men want.
A man to pay for it... I am running away now... Ouch,ouch!
Hehehe! Better hurry up and get your asbestos suit on!
They want a car that tells them they are beautiful.
To broad brush, women want a set price, so that they don’t have to haggle. When a man gets a set price, he rejects it and demands a lower price or goes elsewhere.
Women consider a haggle system with aggressive salesman to favor men and therefore consider it sexist. Simultaneously, they consider a set price system that men refuse to take part in to be sexist.
The Saturn sales model was designed to kowtow to women. It became known as a chick car and it failed.
Some days I just think that women find the existence of men to be sexist.
Men want a car that appeals to women. haha
Women are more rational?????
Look in the master closet.
Last year we were looking for new car for my wife. Against my better judgment I let my wile talk me into going to a GMC dealership. While looking at SUVs and around the other side of the vehicle I overheard my wife ask the salesman about all the recalls on gm SUVs, to which he stated: “they’re all JUST safety recalls, no big deal”. I assume he thought she would not understand what that meant. Just safety recalls, WOW.......... She is now the proud owner of a 2015 3 series BMW. :^)
Exactly. Along with reliability and good service. And, BTW, I prefer electric blue to pink.
wile = wife
Buying a car sucks.
I would say AWD north of Tennessee or so...
I purchased a new car in 2014. I did my research and went into the dealership with the check already written for what I would pay incl tax, license, etc. I stood my ground and wouldn't look at another vehicle or consider another "deal", and ended up with the car I wanted for the price I was willing to pay.
May I be of assistance?
Lorraine makes several fundamental mistakes in her analysis. From this paragraph, she starts out slamming car salesmen for having a sense of humor about extremely unprepared customers.
Then she commits the big error by insisting that the salesman's job is to sell the "right" car to a person. Not hardly. The salesman's job is to sell the person the car they want. It is the buyer who determines whether the wanted car is the "right" one.
She does get the 10 questions piece right, but her demeaning attitude toward the salesmen diminishes the point.
Finally, she blames buyers' ignorance of their own desires and needs on "not understanding a complicated industry", which is pure nonsense. One does not need to understand the industry to know you want a red small-to-medium sedan, rather than a red school bus with racing stripes.
Some of her other points in the article are valid, but her fembot vitriol overwhelms the sensible things she wrote, IMO.
Quite a set of wheels on that baby already.
She had one salesman try to tell her that the SRS (Supplemental Restraint System - air bags) badge on the dash signified it as a sport model. This was way back in the early 90s when the airbags were first being introduced in most models. She laughed at him. She knew more about the car than he did.
“The Saturn sales model was designed to kowtow to women. It became known as a chick car and it failed.”
And to think all this time I just thought the Saturn was a pizza chit. I guess ya learn something every day ; )
Do intensive research on the motor before buying. You car might be beautiful, but it's all for not if your motor isn't durable.
I RECOMMEND A TURBO. Power when you need it, but good gas mileage if driven conservatively. A motor with a turbo or supercharger is a MUST. A MUST, MUST, MUST!!!
Saturn failed because the Saturn2 was a POS. By the time the Aura came on the market the market share was lost.
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