In making up its lists, TrueCar.com, which provides shopping advice, looked at the cars with the greatest percentage of buyers preferred by men and by women.
A big caveat: the lists don’t reflect sales volume, so you can’t take them as an apt reflection of market share. But it’s clear men win hands down in one category. They’re the primary purchasers of two of the industry’s best-selling vehicles: the Ford F-series pickup and the Chevrolet Silverado, even though their sales are not as it used to be.
You might think women would prefer car brands, but as you’ll see from the charts below, the women’s list is heavily weighted toward small SUVs and crossovers. The men’s list includes three pickups, a big SUV, and some luxury models. Some companies make out much better with male buyers, especially GM, which has four spots on the men’s list, while women among this top-10 vehicle list are all but ignoring them.
In fact, Nissan grabs three spots on the women’s list. Two spots go to Volkswagen, which is on a drive to sell 10 million vehicles around the world, and is adding jobs at its new plant in Chatanooga, Tenn.
Car companies have traditionally skewed their offerings toward male buyers, who purchase more cars during their lifetimes than women, trade them in more often, and by the looks of their list, have more money to spend. But the gender list reveals that women aren’t buying particularly cheap vehicles, either, and import companies look like they’ve figured out how to sell to them.
Here’s how the lists shake out.
Most Popular Car Brands Among Women
| Model | Pct. Bought By Women |
|---|---|
| Volvo S40 | 57.9% |
| Nissan Rogue | 56.9% |
| Volkswagen Eos | 56.4% |
| Volkswagen Beetle | 54.6% |
| Hyundai Tucson | 54.0% |
| Honda CR-V | 53.4% |
| Toyota RAV4 | 53.0% |
| Nissan JUKE | 52.7% |
| Jeep Compass | 52.7% |
| Nissan Versa | 52.2% |
Source: TrueCar.com  | |
Most Popular Cars Among Men
| Model | Pct. Bought By Men |
|---|---|
| Porsche 911 | 88.2% |
| GMC Sierra | 87.5% |
| Ford F-Series | 87.0% |
| Chevrolet Corvette | 86.9% |
| Chevrolet Silverado | 86.4% |
| BMW M3 | 85.1% |
| Audi S4 | 84.7% |
| Audi A8 | 84.4% |
| Cadillac Escalade EXT | 84.3% |
| Maserati Granturismo | 84.3% |
| Source: TrueCar.com Versa | |
