Dec 23, 2013 05:03 PM EST
Women Are Better Car Buyers; Men Overlook Price for Flash, Study Shows

Pricey luxury cars are overwhelmingly owned by men, while women usually opt to purchase economical, fuel-efficient rides, according to a Wall Street Journal MarketWatch report.

The vehicle that stands as the most heavily tilted example is the Lamborghini--93 percent of the brand's expensive vehicles are driven by men.

In comparison, the car with the highest female ownership is the "fuel-efficient" Mini, according to an Edmunds.com survey for MarketWatch.

"Brands with high male percentage tend to be more performance-oriented," Jessica Caldwell, a senior analyst at Edmunds, told MarketWatch.

"Women car shoppers tend to be more pragmatic, so the value brands are at the top," she said. "Vehicles like compact crossovers and compact cars tend to also score high with women." 

The top brands that tend to have a higher rate of ownership by women include Mini, Kia, Fiat, Mitsubishi and Hyundai. Along with Lamborghini, McClaren and Ferraris purchases are also dominated by men, each with a more than 90 percent male ownership rate.

Such prestigious brands as Aston Martin, Fisker and Lotus, Ram, Maserati, Rolls Royce and Tesla all have male ownership rates of more than 80 percent, according to MarketWatch.

Women frequently choose cars based on safety, said a separate Kelley Blue Book study, which revealed that 76 percent of women look for safety features when buying a car. The figure compares with just 61 percent of men.

Men seem to pick cars "based on how it makes them feel and the image it presents to the world," the MarketWatch reported noted. They also tend to choose domestic American brands or luxury cars from Europe, instead of the imported cars usually selected by female new-car buyers.

Male car shoppers are drawn toward brands that market themselves as "rugged," noted Arthur Henry, manager of Kelley Blue Book Market Intelligence.

When it comes to affordability, women are more likely to select a car based on price.

A Kelley Blue Book survey showed that around 72 percent of women say they'll consider affordability while buying a car compared with just 50 percent of men, and about 67 percent of women will likely look at fuel-efficiency compared with 48 percent of men.

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