What Women Want?

Trying to find out what women want is not easy, luckily we had some help, from women itself. 

We've always wondered what cars women like, because unless you are woman or Mel Gibson from the movie "What Women Want" it's pretty much a shot in the dark for us the male motoring journalists. 

Yes, there is this prevalent notion that points us towards the idea that women prefer hatchbacks and SUVs that are comfortable, safe and practical, but it still doesn't tell us which specific cars or brands they prefer.

Thankfully, all we had to do was Google it because, for the last decade, a body called WWCOTY has in some ways gathered that information for us.

WWCOTY stands for Women's World Car Of The Year, a yearly automobile awards programme created by Kiwi motoring journalist, Sandy Mhyre in 2009. It clearly states on their website that they don't judge the cars based on whether it is "a 'woman's car", but women do decide the winners of WWCOTY. 

"The voting criteria is based on the same principles that guide any driver when choosing a winning car. Aspects such as safety, quality, price, design, ease of driving, benefits and environmental footprint, among others, are taken into account when casting a vote. In total, there are 43 judges from 35 countries. The Women's World Car of the Year is present on all five continents", says the WWCOTY About Us section. 

Awards have been presented since 2011 and to see whether our assumptions are correct, let's take a look at the past results of WWCOTY. 

2019

Supreme Winner Award: Mazda 3

Urban Car Award: Kia XCeed

Family Car Award: Mazda 3

Green Car Award: Kia Soul EV

Luxury Car: BMW 8 Series

Performance Car: Porsche 911

SUV/Crossover: Range Rover Evoque

Holly Reach Dream Car: Porsche Taycan

Woman of Worth Award: Linda Jackson, CEO of Citroën

2018

Supreme Winner: Volvo XC40

2017

Supreme Winner: Hyundai Ioniq

Family Car: Mazda CX-5 

Economy Car: Ford Fiesta 

Luxury Car: BMW 5 Series 

Sports Car: Honda Civic Type R 

Eco Car: Hyundai Ioniq 

SUV: Peugeot 3008

2016

Supreme Winner: Jaguar F-Pace

Family Car: Honda Civic 

Economy Car: Honda Jazz 

Luxury Car: Volvo S90 

Sports Car: Ford Mustang 

Eco Car: Toyota Prius 

SUV: Jaguar F-Pace

2015

Supreme Winner: Volvo XC90

Family Car: Renault Espace 

Luxury Car: Mercedes-Benz S-Class 

Sports Car: Mercedes-AMG GT 

Economy Car: Toyota Auris 

Eco Car: BMW i8 

SUV: Volvo XC90

2014

Supreme Winner: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

Family Car: Audi A3 

Dream Car: Jaguar F-Type Coupe 

Sports Car: Audi S3 

Economy Car: Honda Jazz / Fit 

Eco Car: Tesla Model S 

SUV: Range Rover Sport

2013

Supreme Winner: Ford Fiesta

Family Car: Audi Allroad 

Luxury Car: Range Rover 

Sports Car: Porsche Boxster S 

Economy Car: Ford Fiesta 

SUV: Mazda CX-5

2012

Supreme Winner: Range Rover Evoque

Family Car: BMW 3 Series 

Luxury Car: Range Rover Evoque 

Sports Car: Porsche 911 

Economy Car: Honda Civic 

2011

Supreme Winner: BMW 5 Series and Citroën DS3 (tie)

Family Car: Volvo S60 

Luxury Car: BMW 5 Series 

Sports Car: Aston Martin Rapide 

Economy Car: Citroën DS3 

Eco Car: Audi A1

We're not sure why some years had more or fewer awards, but we can clearly see that in the past nine years of WWCOTY, there have been four hatchbacks, three SUVs and two sedans emerge as overall winners. Is this an indication that maybe, just maybe we're not that far off the mark indeed? 

When we tallied up every single winner in each category, BMW came up as the brand that has won the most awards while Land Rover, Volvo and Honda came in second with Mazda, Porsche and Audi tied for third.

Although it's a little hard to make a sweeping assumption that these are real-world indications for what brand and types of car women want, it has at least given us some insight to what they might like. 

Of course, it would be easier to find out "What Women Want" if we had the powers of Mel Gibson.