Safety, price found key for women car buyers

8/10/2013

NEW YORK — Women are more likely to prioritize safety and affordability when shopping for cars. Men appear to seek out cars based on exterior styling and “rugged” reputations.

The auto information company Kelley Blue Book collected online surveys from 13,000 U.S. adults who visited KBB.com between January and June.

Older men typically gravitated toward “heritage” brands they grew up with — Lincoln, for example, and Buick. Search data showed 76 percent of women in the study sought out safety features, compared with 61 percent of men. Twenty-eight percent of men were more likely to shop for models considered “rugged” against 19 percent of women.