How auto brands rank among female car buyers

Ram, GMC, Ford, Tesla and Dodge have the lowest female buyer representation of top brands in the U.S., new data from S&P Global Mobility shows.

An analysis of 2022 data by the market research firm found that only 17 percent of Ram's new personal vehicle registrations listed female owners. The four other bottom brands all had representation under 35 percent.

In contrast was Buick with the highest female buyer representation of 55 percent. Mitsubishi, Mini, Lexus, Infiniti, Mazda and Kia were also near the top with women listed in roughly half of their registrations — all above the industry average of 41 percent.

Toyota also had standout popularity among women. The brand's female buyer representation stood at 43 percent, but its volume of registrations among women surpassed all others at 606,985 personal registrations. The second-highest in volume was Honda at 363,799.

Female buyers have been shown to consistently demonstrate more brand loyalty than male buyers, averaging 4 percentage points more likely to stick with the same brand, according to S&P. These figures are notable considering Dodge, Ram and GMC have been struggling with new-buyer loyalty.

Better appealing to women will have to mean more than lumping all of those buyers together, S&P analysts said.

"Best practices at OEMs should look at women as not just one homogenous group," said Marc Bland, chief diversity officer for S&P Global Mobility. "For example, African-American women registered more new vehicles than their male counterparts."

Demographic-specific attention and safety were cited by S&P as possible differentiators between brands for women. Product portfolio was another, considering the male skew of both truck brands and offerings such as SUVs and performance cars.

Tesla is then an outlier, especially so considering the success of its Model Y crossover in a segment that is strong among women. The EV brand is, however, representative of a larger trend S&P found of lagging female buyer representation in the EV segment.

In 2022, women accounted for only 28 percent of new EV registrations. Tesla had stronger female buyer representation among EV-focused startups at 33 percent. At the bottom was Rivian at 15 percent, comparable with the gender ratios of exotic sports car manufacturers.

"That EVs aren't being purchased by women is leading to more questions than answers," Bland said. "Women shoppers have concerns about range anxiety and safety. These brands need to do a lot more educating."