Men Choose Power, Women Go Practical With Vehicle Choice says well known and respected auto researcher. But is that true ponders Milton Snide.

Snide's Remarks: How much does economics enter the car choice picture? As you will see the cars that have a slight preponderance of female owners have always been considered "Chick Cars" because they are positivly CUTE and the right size. By the way almost 25% of The Auto Channel audience is women, making us the most popular web site for 100% auto interested females. Ladies are ALWAYS welcome here!

SOUTHFIELD, Mich., Feb. 18, 2004 -- Have Toyota and Saturn tapped into a magic elixir that lures female new car buyers into dealer showrooms? Or do the Toyota RAV4, and Saturn's SC, SL and ION models simply have the perfect selling points to attract the largest percentages of female buyers in the U.S.?

R. L. Polk & Co., the motor vehicle industry's premier provider of statistical information and analysis, today announced the top vehicle choices among American women and men for calendar year 2003. The results are based on at least 1,000 new vehicle registrations per model, and calculated based on the percentage of all new vehicles registered by each gender.

The top four vehicles among American men are high-performance cars -- the Dodge Viper, the BMW M5, the Porsche 911 and the Audi A8. Rounding out the top five is the GMC Sierra pickup truck.

"American men have a clear preference for performance and power," said Lonnie Miller, director of analytical solutions at Polk. "Women -- who have tremendous influence on purchasing decisions in the household -- select vehicles that are practical. Saturn and Toyota are big winners in these rankings. Saturn has three models in the women's top five; Toyota has the top-ranked vehicle in terms of percentage of female buyers. Part of Saturn's success in appealing to women may be their hallmark no-haggle sales process; an acknowledgement that a customer-friendly approach can make a difference in attracting customers."

   Table 1:    Top 5 Vehicle Selections for U.S. Women, CY 2003
   Source: R. L. Polk & Co. national motor vehicle registration database
   (Models with more than 1,000 new retail registrations in 2003)

   Rank        Make        Model        Male        Female    % Female

   1          Toyota       RAV4        26,010       35,086       57.4
   2          Saturn       SC           1,300        1,658       56.1
   3          Saturn       SL           2,403        2,882       54.5
   4          Saturn       ION         44,232       51,698       53.9
   5          KIA          Sportage     3,224        3,719       53.6

   Table 2:    Top 5 Vehicle Selections for U.S. Men, CY 2003
   Source: R. L. Polk & Co. national motor vehicle registration database
   (Models with more than 1,000 new retail registrations in 2003)

   Rank        Make        Model        Male        Female     % Male

   1          Dodge        Viper        1,259           84       93.7
   2          BMW          M5           1,134           90       92.6
   3          Porsche      911          6,457          816       88.8
   4          Audi         A8           1,772          251       87.6
   5          GMC          Sierra     118,622       17,029       87.4