Men are more likely than women to go up or down in size when it comes to their next car.
That’s according to research by online new and used car supermarket BuyaCar.co.uk, which found that most people were in their ideally sized vehicle.
The poll of 700 motorists’ buying intentions revealed that 71.9 per cent felt they were in their ‘Goldilocks’ car – not too big and not too small but just right
However, men are more likely than women to aspire to a bigger or smaller next car, and women seemed less concerned than men about changing the size of their vehicle.
While 78.9 per cent of women said ‘about the same’, that figure dropped to 71 per cent for men, who are significantly more likely to aspire to a bigger or smaller vehicle than what they’re driving today.
Men are twice as likely as women to downsize for their next car – at 11.1 per cent compared with 5.3 per cent of women.
And whereas 7.9 per cent of women hoped to trade up in vehicle size, it was 11 per cent for men.
Men are also twice as likely to go for a 4×4 or crossover body style next time, while women are four times as likely to opt for a smaller city car body type.
With used sports car sales reportedly surging in Britain, following lockdown almost one in 10 men say their next car will be a coupe style, compared with 5.6 per cent for women and between 6.5 per cent and 6.9 per cent of men and women respectively intend to buy a convertible.
Christofer Lloyd, editor of BuyaCar.co.uk, said: ‘Overall, our research suggests that most people are already in their “Goldilocks” car, but a theme appears to be emerging around the different attitudes of men and women to their cars.
‘Just as we have reported recently that women appear to be more “zen” than men about potential problems with their cars, it now seems that men are more likely to be dissatisfied with the current size of vehicle they drive, with more than one in 10 wanting either a larger or a smaller car next time.’
He added: ‘We also noticed that women are much more likely than men to say they will choose a plain hatchback as their next body style, with 48.6 per cent of them opting for that, compared with 31.7 per cent of men.
‘If you consider the simple hatchback body style description as signifying a practical “workhorse”, this chimes with frequent research suggesting that women take a more practical approach to choosing their cars in contrast with the more emotional relationship reported by men.
‘Perhaps the most surprising finding in this research is that more than one in 10 men are intending to buy a smaller car next time.
‘Whether or not this relates to a change in car usage patterns – perhaps related to the Covid-19 pandemic – only time will tell.’
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