Ok the Fiat 500 is a cute car but will pink sell it to young women drivers as a fashion accessory as their marketers suggest.
A pink Fiat for the girls
And if young women drivers decide to buy a new pink car do they realise that they may struggle to sell or exchange it, come the time.
Or is colouring it pink a lazy marketing tactic from those who want to be seen as female friendly to attract a female audience but don’t really know enough about the female psyche.
I have heard that Sheilas Wheels car insurance for women sells well to gays because they love the pink thing.
Is this what Fiat wants?
Or is any publicity better than none in today’s tough car sales environment.
And if anyone from Fiat is reading this and can tell me that their research confirms that young women drivers want and are happy to pay £1000 more for a pink car (regardless of added on board value) I’ll happily apologise for being a tad negative here.
FOXY Steph
I think this might be a marketing faux pas!
When my 18-year old daughter started driving last year, she wanted a black car. OK, she pimped up the itnerior of the black Matiz with leopard print seatcovers and accessories (!) but her street cred demanded black.
The older daughter now 23, actually opted for a very sedate green Ford Focus because she is doing a Masters Degree in Music and felt she needed a car that reflected that status.
I drive a black car too. Not that I’m boring or old, but it looks nice and reflects my professional status. If I turned up at a clients site (I work in the Automotive Manufacturing industry) no one will ever take me seriously.
I don’t think our perceptions of our cars and what they represent to us is any different from any other female driver in the UK. Young women nowadays are very concerned with image – Pink is associated with Barbie and Legally Blonde bubble headedness. The girls who can afford to buy a car like this, won’t. Simply because having the spending power puts them in a different category of consumer.
This pink car is a gimmick. I doubt it wil lstay in their range long.
Thanks for your post Cathy.
I agree with you that women choose the colour of their car to reflect the image they want to portray.
Interestingly (or it is for me
) gender research suggests that (many) men prefer dark, colder colours whereas women (tracing back to their childhood) choose warm and brighter colours.
I have also just spotted that the pink Fiat is to be made available via the internet only so perhaps they are testing the market here in a small way.
Obviously there will be some females that will like the look, and may or may not then buy, but I still find it surprising that there is still so much overtly stereotypical gender marketing when it comes to this colour.
Time will tell. If it isn’t successful I doubt we’ll read about it from Fiat so others may well decide to follow suit thus perpetuating the sales myth (in the male eye)…