In a few weeks a new version of the Volkswagen Beetle will be launched with great fanfare. Since the announcement of the impending launch was made back in April, much of the discussion surrounding the car has been about the fact that the 1998 version had a reputation as a girls' car, and that conventional wisdom says that girls' cars don’t sell. (Forbes, 2011)
Excuse me? According to women-drivers.com, women buy more than half of new cars in the US, and influence 80% of all car purchases. (M2W, 2011) A study done by R.L. Polk & Co. in March showed that over the past four years the number of women buying cars has steadily increased and car purchases by African-American, Asian and Hispanic women are up 4.7% versus year ago. (Tokic, 2011).
Not to mention the fact that I have long suspected that the reason Cadillac was the only car to show sales increases during the recession was due to their brilliant female-focused ad.
So what do you think? Is a focus on men going to be a winning strategy for VW?
Forbes, T. (2011, September 12). VW Hopes Men Will Catch The Bug. mediapost.com.
Retrieved September 14, 2011, from
M2W. (2011, April 13). Fast Facts. m2w.biz. Retrieved September 14, 2011, from
Tokic, A. (2011, March 30). Report: African-American, Asian and Hispanic Women Driving Auto Sales. autoguide.com. Retrieved September 14, 2011, from
