L.A.’s top 10 cars and trucks by sex
One list has four sports cars and six trucks. The other list has nine small vehicles and one sedan. You don’t need to be a “Jeopardy!” contestant to figure out which list is for men and which list is for women.
Edmunds.com found this out when it compiled top-10 lists of the vehicles in the Los Angeles area with the highest percentages of male and female ownership. Using new-vehicle registrations for 2012, the website was able to determine which cars and trucks were most likely to be owned by men and women.
The data aren’t perfect, Edmunds points out. Because the lists were gleaned from registrations, a husband registering his wife’s car in his name would be counted as a “male car.” But the information isn’t a sample, and includes all vehicles registered in L.A. in 2012.
Photos: L.A.’s vehicles most likely to be owned by men and women
The data reveal some interesting tidbits.
The car most likely to be registered to a man? The Chevrolet Corvette, then in its final year of production before the new C7 broke cover in Detroit. Seventy-six percent of Corvettes registered in L.A. in 2012 were registered by a man.
Meanwhile, the car skewing most to female buyers in 2012 was the Volkswagen Beetle, with 50%. This can’t come as welcome news to VW, as the latest version of this Beetle was explicitly designed to lure more men.
Every vehicle with a high percentage of male ownership is either a truck or a sports car. The vehicles more likely to skew male are also predominantly American brands; just three of those top 10 vehicles come from foreign automakers.
This contrasts with the vehicles with high female ownership percentages; not one American brand is among the top 10.
The vehicles preferred by women also have a lower base price than do the vehicles with high male ownership rates.
Here’s how the lists pan out, with the percentage of male and female ownership next to each vehicle. Is your car on the list?
Most male drivers in L.A.:
1. Chevrolet Corvette: 76%
2. Dodge Ram: 74%
3. Honda Ridgeline: 71%
4. Chevrolet Avalanche: 68%
5. Porsche 911: 68%
6. GMC Sierra: 67%
Ford Mustang: 67%
8. Toyota Tacoma: 67%
9. Dodge Challenger: 67%
10: Chevrolet Silverado: 67%
Most female drivers in L.A.:
1. Volksw0agen Beetle: 50%
2. Nissan Rogue: 49%
3. Scion XD: 48%
4. Volkswagen Tiguan: 46%
5. Lexus IS: 46%
6. Kia Sportage: 46%
7. Hyundai Tucson: 46%
8. Mini Cooper: 46%
9: Nissan Sentra: 46%
10: Nissan Juke: 46%
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