Differences between sexes
Forty-three per cent of female drivers and 53 per cent of men receive feedback from their partners about their driving.
The Women’s World Car of the Year (WWCOTY) has conducted its first global survey to discover habits and emotions on-board a car.
According to data collected by WWCOTY on five continents, 43 per cent of women receive instructions and comments from their partners when they are behind the wheel.
The figure rises to 58 per cent when Latin American female users respond, while it drops to 41.2 per cent in countries such as Croatia and 28.6 per cent in the Czech Republic.
In the case of male drivers, the percentage is 52.9 per cent globally, although they recognise that 86.3 per cent of them are the ones who sit behind the wheel when it comes to family trips. The figure is nearly 100 per cent in Italy in this respect and drops to 42 per cent in the UK and 25 per cent in Germany.
Travelling with a partner in the passenger seat is a source of discomfort for 14.5 per cent of women and 11.8 per cent of men. By country, the figure for Spain stands out, where 21.4 per cent of women surveyed feel insecure at the wheel when driving with their partner. In Belgium, the figure is 16.3 per cent, in the US it’s per cent and in Portugal it’s 12.5 per cent.
There is virtual unanimity around the world on the perception of freedom and independence that a car provides. This is the opinion of 92.2 per cent of men and 94.9 per cent of women in the WWOCTY’s survey.
For women drivers, a car means in most cases more than just a means of transport. It provides access to a world full of possibilities, experiences and personal development. This world was fully opened up on June 24, 2018, when the ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia, the last country where it was not allowed, was lifted.
Today, women influence more than 80 per cent of car purchases in advanced countries. This will continue to grow in the coming years because the percentage of young women university students is increasing in developed areas.
“Wage parity is starting to become an achievable goal, boards of directors are no longer exclusively male, and in the lists of the richest people in the world it is not unusual to see more and more women’s names”, says Marta García, executive president of the WWCOTY. “A future of sustainable mobility and equality would not be possible without the contribution of women.”
