Automobiles are largely seen as a ‘man’s domain,’ but a new study could turn that thinking on its head.
As part of its Lady Boss campaign, Turo surveyed 1,000 women to better understand their feelings and knowledge about vehicles. They found that 73 percent of women “feel an emotional connection to their car.”
This connection is more than skin deep as nearly 70 percent of women said they know how to fix their own vehicle. This includes more than 50 percent of respondents who said they can jump start a dead battery.
One of the more interesting statistics is that 32 percent of women said they know how to drive a car with a manual transmission. This is somewhat surprising as an article from U.S. News & World Report said estimates on the number of Americans who can drive a stick have ranged from as little as 18 percent to as high as 60 percent.
The campaign also highlights some of the challenges that woman face when it comes to driving, especially from the men in their life. This includes everything from being excluded from driving on business trips to complaints that women don’t know how to drive.
As for which vehicles women dream about, three different women cited the Mercedes G-Class as their ultimate vehicle. Others mentioned a 1967 Shelby GT500, a Lamborghini and a Maybach. Those vehicles have a lot of appeal and we wouldn’t be surprised if a number of men also considering them to be their dream cars as well.
According to Turo CEO Andre Haddad, “The idea that car enthusiasts and connoisseurs are men is an antiquated one. Women break barriers and defy stereotypes across industries every day, and the car industry is certainly no exception.”