Attn female owners: journalist comments on lack of female Tesla drivers

[vfx]

Sales studies have shown that most women prioritize the need for a car that is safe an reliable (which also means good service). For some reason I think Elon knew this when embarking on the S. When the first car rolled off the line he stressed how they had built in extreme safety. We all had to wait for crash test results to have his words backed up.

 

[Chickenlittle]

Editor in Chief for CNET commented on her twitter about lack of female Tesla drivers

Twitter / lturrentine: I see approx. 5 Tesla Ss on ...

Feel free to chime in, ladies!

not a lady but i think this report nonsense. what are they going by? who drives the car? who the title is in? mine a company car, is the company a male or female? my cars are usually titled in both mine and my wifes name, so who would it be listed as? who interprets the sex of the title holder...is lindsey a man or woman? could go on.

 

[Ugliest1]

I believe my husband is the official owner but I drive it just as much as he does ....

Because ferrets rule!

 

[SkyKidFalken]

What 's the point of that tweet?

In Vancouver area, most higher end vehicles are driven by women, most of them are Asians. And I've never heard people arguing about it.

 

[bkenchan]

I think its just the fact the people need something to talk about. I've seen a good number for women driving around in Model S.

I don't think Tesla is doing any marketing yet and in events people see Elon getting in and out of the car and he's a guy. Pretty sure if they have a female getting in and out of a car at events it would give the media a different image. I just don't think this gender topic is a big deal.

 

[SkyKidFalken]

There will be a lot more women driving the Model X. Since the X was "built with women in mind".

I think its just the fact the people need something to talk about. I've seen a good number for women driving around in Model S.

I don't think Tesla is doing any marketing yet and in events people see Elon getting in and out of the car and he's a guy. Pretty sure if they have a female getting in and out of a car at events it would give the media a different image. I just don't think this gender topic is a big deal.

 

[PeterK]

I'm a female owner, too, and I don't believe Tesla's marketing is any more skewed towards one gender over another, any more than other marques. I do believe that women typically buy cars for different reasons than men, however. Those different reasons can drive both genders to make the same purchase, though. And having been around cars and racing for decades, men simply seem to be more of the "car nut" ilk than women, so I have received comments and questions from far more women than men since I've had my Tesla. (That was the same for my M3, 911, etc. though.)

Relevant article today, including mention of Tesla's approach: Go-Go Boots Part of Pitch Even After Barra Breaks Ceiling - Bloomberg

 

[MassX1317]

My wife will be the primary weekday driver of our Tesla (still deciding S or X). She says the S has a manly, aggressive look to it. I'm sure she isn't the only woman who feels that way. That won't stop her from driving it though.

- - - Updated - - -

The first Tesla I saw up close in the wild was driven by a 16-22 year old girl. I was profiling the small market I was in trying to figure out who owned the car and was surprised it was her.

As I'm walking out of the store I see her pulling out and she missed the driveway by several feet with her right tires, drove across the sidewalk and slammed the car back down to the road. From les than a car length away I let out a painful bark. It made an awful sound. I saw her one more time so the car still worked fine after but I'm traumatized by the whole thing.

 

[muleferg]

Winston Salem had an article that women buy almost half the automobiles sold in the US. This was at the NAIAS in Detroit

 

[rnlass2]

I am of the opinion that Tesla and Elon are wise enough to know statistics and plan accordingly. These show that 75% of all car purchases are bought by or influenced by women. Wise car companies take this into account. I also know my past experiences as a female buying cars has previously been extremely negative. Extremely. My being female in no way seemed to influence the way I was treated when going for a first look at the Tesla showroom, taking my first test drive or my purchase. Professionalism all around. Amazing professionalism and consideration with no hard sell is a hard combination to beat. Wow, what a concept. You cannot blame Tesla if the number of females buying is smaller. We do tend to have smaller salaries, tend to not always be 'early adopters' along with a few other variables. But we are smart. We want a really safe and reliable car with good looks matching it's practicality. That means our buying numbers will grow. In the meantime, I don't mind being among the elite few.

 

[DITB]

Good to see so many new forum members arising from this subject

Posts: 1

Welcome to TMC, hope you won't go away now, once you've chipped in.

Possibly, the decisions for buying a car, and the actual owners, seem to be quite different between the genders. I would add that probably many women are more discrete in this regard, while men have no problem jumping up on the soap box and shout out loud!

Come on up to the soap box, everyone, don't hold back!

Having said that, many users - like myself - have bland user names that could be a male or female user. I am guilty of often assuming another user is a man, unless the user name or written posts indicate otherwise. Sorry, ladies!

 

[Merrill]

This thread can be thought of in two ways, if you are talking registered owners vs drivers you could get the numbers misconstrued. We currently have a Model S and my wife drives it more than me and the car is in both our names. So do you count this as a female owner or male? We will also have a model x which my wife will drive, so will I and it will be registered in both names. If you are talking about single and not married owners that would create a different numbers. I see lots of women in town driving the model s so in real numbers I think there are more women driving Tesla's than are being reported.

 

[brucet999]

Very good article you wrote on Huff Post, Leilani.

Why We Need to Fight for TeslaLeilani Münter

Well done.

 

[rolosrevenge]

That article is two years old.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

Is this the wrong time and place to re-invoke the debate that soccer mom can be a positive title?

In all seriousness, I have on average received better service from women car salespeople. Men, on average, can be more aggressive and that doesn't always translate into a good experience. So, definitely the more women we see in the car business and as car enthusiasts etc., the better. (And not as booth babes, that we don't need - or at least make it an equal opportunity.)

That said, I've seen a bunch of Tesla drivers on my roads and not one of them have been women so far. It is unfortunate that - anecdotally - new technology still seems adopted sooner by men than women. In any case, it seems obvious to me that be it STEM overall or cars or whatever, a balance of genders in technology is a positive force.

Ladies, you are on a good mission here. Please keep it up.

 

[danahull]

I think this is an interesting topic. According to IHS Automotive, Model S customers are 78.5 percent male and 21.5 percent female. That is based on who registered the car at the DMV, so it can be skewed to who actually did the paperwork vs. who drives it on a daily basis.

My own hunch is that, over time, more and more women will become owners and that the X will tilt more heavily toward women.

Dana Hull
Reporter at Bloomberg
[email protected]

 

[Chickenlittle]

I think this is an interesting topic. According to IHS Automotive, Model S customers are 78.5 percent male and 21.5 percent female. That is based on who registered the car at the DMV, so it can be skewed to who actually did the paperwork vs. who drives it on a daily basis.

My own hunch is that, over time, more and more women will become owners and that the X will tilt more heavily toward women.

Dana Hull
Reporter at Bloomberg
[email protected]

Nonsense information. There is no spot to list owners sex. Are corporate registrations male or female? How about names like Pat. Are they male or female? You need to be more critical of the data you report to establish a readership that respects your reporting

 

[ecarfan]

Only a small fraction of all common names are gender neutral, and those that are not could break either way. And probably only a small fraction of Model S registrations are by company name. So I don't see those two issues as significantly skewing that data. However, it does seem likely that since Model S owners are likely to be older than the average car owner, that cars used equally be couples would be registered under the male's name more often than the female's (assuming a heterosexual pairing of course). Allowing for that, it still seems clear the Model S owners are far more likely to be male than female.

Nonsense information. There is no spot to list owners sex. Are corporate registrations male or female? How about names like Pat. Are they male or female? You need to be more critical of the data you report to establish a readership that respects your reporting

 

[bonnie]

I think DMV info is helpful, but only directionally. I think most would agree that most Model S drivers are male. But, as I've personally witnessed over multiple years on this forum, that decision is typically (and appropriately) made by both people when purchasing.

And how many of you have ended up buying a second Model S, because your significant other has somehow become the primary driver of the car YOU insisted on buying? In that particular scenario, both registrations might be under one name, even though each car has a primary driver of different genders.

Perhaps the real story is how so many women manage to get their husbands to do all the paperwork, while they're presumably out driving. Fast.

 

[Chickenlittle]

Only a small fraction of all common names are gender neutral, and those that are not could break either way. And probably only a small fraction of Model S registrations are by company name. So I don't see those two issues as significantly skewing that data. However, it does seem likely that since Model S owners are likely to be older than the average car owner, that cars used equally be couples would be registered under the male's name more often than the female's (assuming a heterosexual pairing of course). Allowing for that, it still seems clear the Model S owners are far more likely to be male than female.

Ok how about cars registered in two names like husband and wife. I suspect most are registered like that. Which name used first or both or counted twice. What about those registered by trusts not a mall number for both these categories. The trust name is set up under the one who established it and may not be the buyer or driver. Would not think anything about this data. The only worse thing than no data is bad data