Tag Archives: Hyundai

women drivers

Angry Birds behind the wheel

angry_womanA recent study of 1,000 UK drivers reveals women are, on average, 12% angrier than men when they’re behind the wheel.

So claims Hyundai and behavioural psychologist Patrick Fagan after cutting-edge technology to create the world’s first Driving Emotion Test (DET).

This involves facial coding technology, eye tracking analysis, galvanic skin response and a heart rate monitor to record how specific stimuli impact our emotions when we’re driving.

The results are then fed into specially-created software to provide subjects with a unique DET score.

If you want to have a go you can via an online DET and secure tickets to House of Hyundai– a three-day sensory experience on the 4th and 5th November 2016 at Unit London in Soho.

Quite remarkable…

Angry female driver reactions

Apparently women were the most angry when undertaken, shouted at, beeped at, had to deal with a back-seat driver (women 14% angrier) or faced with a road user who failed to indicate (women 13% angrier).

In all test scenarios, women were more likely to respond with anger than male drivers.

The study suggests two dominant emotions of happiness, as in a sense of freedom when driving and anger when drivers feel out of control.

Other Driving Emotion findings

Research findings include…

1/ The primary reasons for our continued love affair with driving are the freedom it gives us (51%), mobility (19%) and independence (10%)

2/ If you want a man to open up, take him for a drive. Just under a third (29%) of men said they find it easier to have a conversation in the car. Fourteen percent added that a chat actually makes them a better driver

3/ 54% of Brits said the thing that made them really happy in the car was singing – which may explain why Carpool Karaoke has resonated with many people

4/ When the researchers looked at what makes us happy behind the wheel, 84% of people said “empty roads”, 78% said “the countryside” and 69% “the seaside”

5/ Music also makes most drivers happy. Eight out of 10 people nearly always listen to something while driving with Meatloaf’s Bat out of Hell and Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody top of the driving charts. Pop (70%) and rock (61%) are the most popular genres

Explaining the results, Mr Fagan commented: “Psychologically, women score higher than men on emotional and verbal intelligence, and on the personality trait of neuroticism. Evolutionary theory suggests our early female ancestors had to develop an acute sense of danger for anything that threatened them and their young if their cave was undefended while men were out hunting. That ‘early warning system’ instinct is still relevant today, and women drivers tend to be more sensitive to negative stimuli, so get angry and frustrated quicker.”

Tony Whitehorn, Hyundai Motor UK’s President and CEO comments:  “We are constantly striving to better understand what impacts people’s behaviour when they are driving and this research has certainly revealed some interesting, and somewhat surprising results. By examining drivers’ emotions, our aim is to help them get a better drive both today and in the future.”

Anger busting driver strategies

I am not sure how Hyundai plans to improve the driving ability of those that undertake cars, beep, shout or fail to indicate their directional intentions to women but I can say, hand on heart, that FOXY is doing what it can to help Club members cope with the stressful side of their motoring by being here for them when they need us.

So they can set out to drive to work, for example, in a better and less stressed frame of mind that is more likely to aid their concentration and tolerance of others.
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Comments most welcome via Twitter @FOXYtweets.

FOXY

women

Is this how we’ll car shop in future?

Hyundai Rockar in Bluewater Shopping Centre
Hyundai store in Bluewater
I have always thought that the concept of a travel agent, for travel and destination advice followed up by holiday delivery, would work well for those of us shopping for a new car.

An independent and personal service with transparent charges to make sure customers were aware of the measurably best car choices in their particular search category even if they then decided to buy another.

At least they’d have known their choices.

And knowing the female influence here and what many women think of the car showroom experience, I’d want any such car shopping business model to include female sales staff as an obvious sign of a genuinely female friendly car dealership service.

The Rockar model

So Hyundai’s digital car buying service, badged as Rockar back in November 2014, seemed to be a step in this direction, with a physical store at Bluewater shopping centre off the M25. Apparently 54% of car buyers here have been women and their average age is 39. Rockar also reports that 60% of buying customers completed their car shopping purchase online and later.

Clearly this made financial sense because Hyundai then opened a second Rockar-branded store in Westfield Stratford.

And now Jaguar Land Rover is following suit in October 2016 with the option for customers to buy their cars online or from the Rockar store at Stratford.

Car ‘angel’ experts

This is where car shoppers will be greeted by ‘angels,’ described as ‘non-selling product experts’ in response to changing needs and demands from JLR customers. Now I can’t see what gender these ‘angels’ are to be but I’d guess that there’ll be a significant female presence…

These ‘angels’ will offer advice (about Hyundai and JLR choices) as well as help customers with the in-store car configurators and show them around the display cars. Customers can then complete their purchase on the accompanying website, there and then, or afterwards at home.

The only part of the after sales service that isn’t clear (to me) as yet is how Rockar handles any new car delivery gremlins and/or the car’s future servicing and/or repairs. Inevitably the best solution for the customer is always a local one, with dealers who will surely want to be part of (or compete with) the Rockar model to win as much business as possible for themselves?

All this competition is great for customers of course. Unless local dealerships can’t afford to compete with the Rockar model? Because, as things stand, it looks as if some car manufacturers are competing with themselves to sell cheaper cars to the same audience.

Only time will tell if this catches on, with more brands joining in.

Steph Savill

stephsavill.co.uk
foxyladydrivers.com

This is a Top Ten Automotive blog 2016.

female students

High Wycombe school wins Hyundai business award

nicola_magneatThe female winners of Hyundai’s second ‘Best Business Enterprise’ award were presented with their trophy by 2012 Summer Olympics Gold Medal winner, Nicola Adams MBE.

The boxer made a special appearance at the Hyundai Training Academy in High Wycombe, answering questions on boxing and her famous victories at the London Games.

The winning team was called Magneat, formed and run by 13 pupils from Holmer Green Senior School in Buckinghamshire. The team developed and brought to market a dashboard tidy that uses friction bubbles to securely hold possessions such as mobile phones or wallets on the car’s fascia, reducing driver distraction. Having seen off stiff competition from five other teams, Magneat and runners-up Fun Learning 4 U (The Highcrest Academy) will travel to Frankfurt, Germany to participate in the European Skills for the Future competition.

Magneat overcame a number of challenges to bring their product to market, including changing supplier. The team’s marketing and advertising activities included a radio interview and adverts, as well as social media activation including Twitter. They have sold their ‘dashboard tidy’ at four events and the team says it plans to sell it at further events in June.

dash_mat_magneat

Tony Whitehorn, CEO of Hyundai Motor UK, commented: “I was very impressed by the creativity, determination and business savvy shown by all teams contesting the second Hyundai Best Business Enterprise competition. What struck me most was the degree to which social media and digital platforms were used in the teams’ marketing communications. It’s exciting and encouraging to see the huge potential of young people being realised through Hyundai’s Skills for the Future initiative.”

Charlotte Arpino James, Managing Director of Magneat, said: “We have learnt so much from Best Business Enterprise, especially about how to motivate each other and communicate effectively.” The team’s Operations Deputy Manager, Maddie Hanson, added: “I think the biggest lessons we’ve learned are about the importance of teamwork and self-belief.”

The Best Business Enterprise award is part of Skills for the Future, a collaboration programme between Hyundai and Young Enterprise that aims to equip young people with the skills they need to succeed in today’s highly competitive job market.

The teams competing in 2014 Best Business Enterprise (project names in brackets) were: Magneat, Holmer Green Senior School (winners); Fun Learning 4 U, The Highcrest Academy (Runners-up); Alliance, The Highcrest Academy (3rd place); Are We There Yet?, John Colet School; Team Gear, Nether Stowe High School; and Cwmni Ifanc, Aberdare Girls’ School.

Well done to all. It’s great to see a female team winning on this occasion.

FOXY

NB: The winning Magneat team from Holmer Green Senior School in Buckinghamshire included: Charlotte Arpino James, Managing Director; Madeleine Hanson, Secretary Manager; Amy Kershaw, Operations Deputy Manager; Surmand Rehman, Sales Manager; Tara Pinhorn, Finance Manager (all present at awards ceremony); Lucy Ogle, Operations Manager; Charlotte Landon, Deputy Managing Director; Maxine Arpino James, Secretary Deputy Manager; Kyle Quin, IT Manager; Hannah Gatfield, Marketing Manager; Elle Weddell, Human Resources Deputy Manager; Gabriella Mash, Marketing Deputy Manager; and Sophie Allison, Human Resources Manager.

car dealerships

A female friendly dealership welcome in Wales

The Ladies evening at Wessex Garages Penarth Road dealership in Cardiff

Wessex Garages in Cardiff organised a very successful evening event for their female customers last month at their Penarth Road showroom.

The event attracted an impressive 60 women on a dark and dreary October evening who were entertained whilst a dedicated team of hard working valeters treated their cars to a special Primp & Polish makeover.

Wessex’s Penarth Road showroom represents the Kia, Hyundai, FIAT and Abarth franchises in Cardiff so this was a great opportunity for everyone to give the latest models the once over.

And in case the Abarth brand isn’t as well known as the others, members of the all female audience were treated to a ‘Top Gear’ like review from a panel of  motorists who had just test driven the Abarth. Their feedback was fun and favourable which is what you should expect about such a smart and zippy car with female appeal.

Next on the agenda was an excellent presentation from Conflict Solutions covering road safety issues and survival tactics in the event of the dreaded vehicle breakdown when you are on your own. Undoubtedly the highlight of this talk was the clever self-defence moves that were demonstrated, just in case this know how ever might come in handy!

At this point in the proceedings Wessex Garages female technician, Natasha, joined the party and led a number of fun challenges (for the mechanically less experienced…) including changing wheels, checking tyres and topping up oil levels. It’s always good to have a go for ourselves, even though we know that the professionals are likely to be there to do it for us on request…

During the evening there had been a few exciting prize draws but the ultimate one that most time-strapped motoring maidens would surely covet most was a professional car valet service for a whole 12 months! Just imagine that…

To demonstrate their female friendly credentials to more women drivers, Wessex Garages Penarth Road has recently joined the new FOXY Choice approved FEMALE FRIENDLY garage network and are the first dealership listed in Cardiff.

To tie in with this initiative, all attendees were offered gift memberships of FOXY Lady Drivers Club with Wessex Garages’ compliments.

As one guest said in her feedback after the event ‘It was a cold and wet October evening and I was tempted to go home after work …but I was really glad I forced myself to go!’

Well done Wessex Garages. This was a big event that was professionally managed and organised for the benefit of the lucky ladies who attended. From FOXY Choice’s point of view we have just awarded you a generous handful of female friendly brownie points as part of our garage monitoring processes!

FOXY

buying a new car, women drivers

£2000 new car discount continues

Hyundai’s stylish cars, low CO2, low costs and depreciation and 33,000 new customers as testimony to all this during the scrappage scheme (which is rapidly coming to an end by the way)…

But never fear, Hyundai is continuing their own kind of scrappage scheme, offering £2000 in part exchange against seven to ten year old cars in Britain.

hyundairangeAnd all because they know that foxy lady drivers do not want to have to haggle for a good price when we go out to buy a new car. It’s to do with trust and Hyundai is busy building this relationship.

And they haven’t forgotten their recent customers either.

All the 33,000 customers will get a Hyundai voucher to give to family or friends to save money on a new Hyundai and if they themselves want to upgrade to a 10 registration they can do this for £499 for an i10, £599 for an i20 or £749 for an i30.

Once more, this is what women like to do; assuming feedback is favourable, they are natural networkers and happy to share their good fortune with others.

Women drivers in the Bristol area especially can also look forward to a visit to female friendly Hyundai dealership Berkeley Vale; they have signed the FOXY Promise to ‘never overcharge, patronise or sell customers anything they don’t need or want’ so that is an added bonus for women drivers looking for reassurance when they go to buy a new car.

FOXY

Find out more about a specialist motoring life assistance association for women drivers including information and advice about buying a new car in 2010…