I was interested in the latest car buying research from Sainsbury’s Bank. This was originally averaged across both genders so I asked for the female facts which they kindly supplied.

Knowing how significant women are when it comes to the car shopping choice, I wanted to see any gender differences here. Women buy c50% of all new cars and ‘influence’ c80% of all cars bought but will men admit this and might women ‘risk’ their relationship by pointing this out to Sainsbury’s!

So as you can see I add a modicum of scepticism to motoring research that is based on male opinions or estimates because most men try to impress when a survey is based on opinions whereas women are more likely to be realistic and often secretive when it comes to money. This usually makes us seem more conservative than men.

So, taken with a large gender pinch of salt, Sainsbury’s research tells us that

+ Nearly one in five British women (17%) are currently thinking about buying a car over the next six months, compared with 28% of men
+ The average amount females anticipate spending is £9,073, slightly lower than the average (£10,290) and significantly less than men who anticipate spending £11,002
+ 35% of female car buyers plan to use a loan to make up part of their purchase, slightly lower than average (42%) and 10 percentage points lower than men (45%)
+ 15% of female car buyers are likely to consider a personal loan, compared to 31% of males.

On average 25% of people will use a loan to finance their purchase and Sainsbury’s loan calculator helps check the best deal.

All in all, there are some great new car deals and finance terms around to tempt we women.

FOXY

NB: This research was conducted before pension freedom day when we’d expect more women over 55 to consider buying a new car after drawing down pension income.