5:18 pm, August 16, 2011
FEMALE motorists still feel intimidated by the car buying process new research by Quicks has shown.
The car retailer’s research shows that more than 50 per cent of female motorists said they are more likely to be ripped off by car dealers because they are women.
43 per cent feel they are patronised by dealers and nearly a third said they hate visiting them.
The study, conducted among 1,000 female motorists also reveals that more than 40 per cent of female motorists would not buy a car from a dealer, unless they were accompanied by a male friend or male family member and over a quarter said they feel uncomfortable looking round a dealership with a salesperson on the approach.
The study also shows that a third of female motorists feel that they are not taken seriously by car dealers, one in ten feel that buying a car from a dealer is as intimidating as suffering road rage from another driver and one in six said that the attitude of staff at dealerships makes them feel uneasy.
However, nearly half of female motorists said they would feel more comfortable buying a car if they could browse at their leisure.
Katie Martin, head of Quicks operations said: ‘We know from our own research that increasingly women make the decision on what car to buy in the household. It is clear that the majority of women don’t like the car buying experience and that many women feel they are treated differently by sales people, who seem to be trying to take advantage of them.
‘At Quicks, we have tried to address the negative aspects of traditional car buying and turn it into an enjoyable shopping experience. We have created stores that reflect the way people want to shop for their new car.
‘We spoke with many car buyers when we were developing the Quicks concept and looked for inspiration to high street stores and cafes, such as Apple, M&S and Starbucks.’
The firm employs ‘Buying Assistants’ and an Apple Retail store-like buying experience, and all the cars at Quicks are arranged into simple colour-coded sections to make choosing a car easy.
