Cars, Image, and Style: Are You What You Drive?

 

What does your car say about you?

If you drive a Cadillac Escalade SUV, you make about $175,000 a year. You speak your mind and are unapologetic. You enjoy life and do a lot of entertaining. You take risks and would rather fail than not try.

On the other hand if your biggest hobbies are watching TV, going to the movies, reading, domestic travel and conversations with friends, you're likely to be driving a Honda Civic Coupe or Sedan.

While this might sound a bit like automotive astrology, it isn't, it's what carmakers call psychographics, customers' beliefs and attitudes. In an article entitled, “What Your Car Says About You”, Forbes.com provides psychographical descriptions of 18 popular cars, including the ones above.

Take a look at their list of *top selling cars for women along with their descriptions:

1. Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder - A new car cannot come with a more feminine image than Mitsubishi's Eclipse Spyder. Tiny and cute, this is not the ideal vehicle for a man seeking bragging rights.

2. Saturn L300 - Saturn's L300 sedan may be on its way to extinction, but its reasonable base price ($22,000) and the friendly dealers who sell it have made it a hit with women.

3. Toyota RAV4 - Toyota's RAV4 is cute, practical, cheap and just about as reliable as a car can be.

4. Mitsubishi Eclipse - The Eclipse is all about cheap thrills. While the convertible starts at $25,000, the Eclipse coupe starts at just $20,000.

5. Land Rover Freelander - While Land Rover's entry-level Freelander is cheap and practical, it has issues with durability--like other Land Rovers--that demonstrate that women don't always make the most rock-solid buying decisions, even though, for the most part, their choices are savvy and thoughtful.
 
What we drive offers, if nothing but a superficial glimpse of who we are, what we like, and how we expressive ourselves outwardly.

When we go out we want to look our best, from the clothes that we wear to the bag that we carry. We understand the importance of our accessories, the image we're portraying and what we want to say to the world around us. The car we drive, our largest, mobile accessory, portrays a significant image.

Research shows that when it comes to car buying, women in general, consider affordability, security, and safety in their purchases, while men think power and luxury.

Compare Forbes.com list of *top selling cars for men and the descriptions and notice the difference:

1. Acura NSX

2. Mercedes Benz S55 AMG - The Mercedes' S-Class sedan is a popular choice among affluent buyers. The S55 AMG is a model within the S-Class range that offers extreme performance. The S55 has a supercharged, 493-hp V-8 engine.

3. Dodge Viper SRT-10 - This car is rude, loud and uncomfortable. We have no trouble understanding why women don't buy it.

4. GMC Yukon XL 2500 -While the cars that are most popular with men are high-performance vehicles, the Yukon XL 2500 is a heavy-duty one. It is a full-size SUV that can tow 12,000 pounds.

5. Jaguar XJR - Jaguar's sumptuous styling would seem to cut across gender lines. With the company's flagship XJ sedan range, however, the high-performance XJR appeals primarily to men. The XJR--and this is presumably the point that makes it so popular with men--adds a supercharger and almost 100 more horsepower.

In an interview with Ed Brown, the founder of Core Edge Image & Charisma Institute, an educational company that helps individuals develop charisma, Brown states that there is a connection between the car we drive and the perception people have of us. “Your car goes where you go and is an outward expression of who you are. The world revolves around style and substance, but it's not enough just to have substance you must also have style,” states Brown.

With that being said, what does your car say about you? Consider the color, the style, the make and the model all as an outward expression of who you are. People buy cars because they need them, but when they're in them they usually want to make a statement, “I'm fun, outgoing, successful, thoughtful, considerate, powerful, etc.”

So the next time you're on the dealership lot, don't just consider the safety ratings, interest rates, invoice price, and functionality of the car, make sure you consider what the car says about you.

* Based on American registrations of new 2005 and 2006 model cars