Although cars are considered to be of greater interest to men than women, the fact remains that the number of women drivers is also high. In the USA, for example, half of the licensed motorists are female and generally, there is a trend of more women driving and owning cars themselves.
The carmakers have never taken women for granted when designing and equipping cars. Even if they do not drive the car themselves, they are often considered as being influential, especially if the purchase is made by a couple.
However, as John Gray’s book, ‘Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus’, has explained, there are differences in the way men and women think, and this extends also to how their needs and expectations when it comes to cars. They may be similar in most aspects but prioritisation may be different.
While it may sometimes seem that cars are largely a ‘guy thing’, many women also have interest in cars. In fact, it should be remembered that it was a woman – the wife of Karl Benz, inventor of the motor car – who was the very first driver in the world in 1886. Women are also equally present in every aspect of the automotive world and can be influential when a couple is shopping for a new car.
The various Car of the Year (COTY) organizations around the world have women on their juries but there is one COTY program which is specifically female-oriented. It’s the Women’s World Car of The Year (WWCOTY) which has been run since 2009.
It is the only car awards group in the world which has only women motoring journalists making up its judging panel. It was created by New Zealand motoring journalist Sandy Myhre, who is Honorary President today.
Since 2009, a group of female motoring experts from 5 continents has got together to pick the Women’s World Car of the Year/Best Car of the Year. It is the only car awards group in the world with only women motoring journalists.
Jury of 50 women from 38 countries
This year, the group that formed the jury numbered 50 and they were from 38 countries. Before casting their votes, they tested dozens of models and evaluated each accordingly. Nine models reached the final phase, each of them winners in their category, and all of them worthy candidates for the overall award which went to the Land Rover Defender.
The voting system of the Women’s World Car of the Year was based this year on choosing in the first round the three best cars in each category, taking into account models launched between January and December 2020. The Defender won with high scores for aspects such as safety, performance, comfort, technology and value for money.
Peugeot 208 – Best Urban Car
Besides the Defender, other models which were tops in the various categories were: Urban Car – Peugeot 208 Family Car – Skoda Octavia Luxury Car – Lexus LC 500 Convertible Performance Car – Ferrari F8 Spider Urban SUV – Peugeot 2008 Medium SUV – Land Rover Defender Large SUV – Kia Sorento 4×4 & Pick-up – Ford F-150 Electric Vehicle – Honda e
Lexus LC500 Convertible – Best Luxury Car
Honda e – Best EV
Of interest to women
“The Women’s World Car of the Year is the only jury in the world made up entirely of women motoring journalists. This gives it enormous value because its decisions represent the liking and preferences of millions of women drivers around the globe. But cars have no gender and are not subject to stereotypes so the winners of these awards are, quite simply, the best cars in the world. And this year’s top winner is the Land Rover Defender,” said Marta Garcia, Executive President of the Women’s World Car of the Year.
The voting was verified by Grant Thornton, from its office in New Zealand, which has been certifying the results of the Women’s World Car of the Year awards since its inception. Paul Kane, a partner in the company, said it is always a hard-fought process.
There are many ‘Car of the Year’ (COTY) award programs run each year all over the world. While they are generally ‘gender-neutral’, the general perception is that the people who sit on the judging panels are usually males. There is, however, one COTY program which has a judging panel made up of only women – the Women’s World Car of the Year (WWCOTY).
This year, the winners were announced at the Dubai International Motor Show.
WWCOTY has been presenting awards annually for the past 10 years, and its judges have used criteria such as safety, value-for-money, aesthetic appearance, storage space, child–friendliness, ease-of-driving, colour, sex appeal and environmental footprint.
The winning car may not reach 0–100 km/h in less than so many seconds or have eye–popping Newton metres of torque. But it will be a car that appeals very strongly to women and that, in essence, is what this award is all about.
Experts in their chosen field, the 41 women (from 34 countries) of the judging panel are all published and specialist motoring writers, some of whom even have had motor racing experience.
Mazda3 – the latest winner in the Women’s World Car of the Year program.
For the 2019 edition of WWCOTY, the announcement of winners was made at the Dubai International Motor Show, with the all-new Mazda3 picked as the Car of the Year. The model was also tops in the Family Car category.
There were five other categories and the winners are: Urban Car- Kia XCeed; Green Car – Kia Soul EV; Luxury Car – BMW 8-Series; Performance Car – Porsche 911; and SUV/Crossover – Range Rover Evoque.
Visit www.mazda.com.my to know more about the latest Mazda3 and other models available in Malaysia.
