CBN Weekend Special｜Young, savvy, and sophisticated: Decoding China’s evolving female car users

S: Hello everyone. Welcome to CBN Weekend Special. I’m Stephanie LI.

R: I’m Zhang Ran. Hey Stephanie, exciting news! I’ve got my driver's license last week.

S: Wow, congratulations! So, are you going to buy a car?

R: Well, maybe I would go check out Guangzhou’s upcoming motor show that displays the latest model. In fact, these days carmakers are putting bigger focus on designing vehicles for female consumers, and many of them would organise offline female-only activities to attract women buyers and establish a deeper relationship with female customers.

S: Buying a car means you have a lot of decisions to make, sometimes difficult, like choosing brands, your price range, types or models, colours, interior features…What would you consider first? 

R: Brands, of course. Actually, I prefer Chinese brands, especially new energy vehicles. Among the top 10 automobile companies that are popular among female users, six are Chinese brands, according to a recent study by 21st Business Herald’s New Automotive Research Institute. The study also found that 27 percent of new energy vehicle users are female, 1.22 times the proportion of female users of fuel vehicles. With the arrival of younger female consumer groups, autonomous brand cars, especially autonomous new energy vehicles, will usher in new development opportunities.

S: Yes, as the booming “She Economy” sweeps across the car industry, the past two years have seen an upward trend in the number of female drivers. In 2021, the number of licensed drivers in China jumped to 481 million, with female drivers accounting for 34 percent, statistics released by the Ministry of Public Security earlier this year showed. The number of female motorists is increasing rapidly by about 13 million each year, or at a pace of nearly 10 percent since 2017, much faster than that of males at merely 3.9 percent. The emergence of women drivers is reshaping the automotive industry. 

R: And among the major purchasing powers in the “She Economy”, what’s worth noticing is that the majority of female car users is the so-called post-90s. In terms of age distribution, post-90s, or women in their early 20s to early 30s, have become the bread and butter in automobile consumption. Females born in the 1990s account for 48 percent of the total researched number of female users, while women born in the 1980s make up 23 percent. 

S: Wanting to tap into the ever-emerging female market, carmakers are trying to become more “female-friendly” by labelling certain types of new models with a touch of femininity. When searching the keyword "girls' favourite car" online, you will find the so-called “girls-only dream car" is the Wuling Hongguang MINI EV, which hit the market in July 2020. Another domestic brand, Great Wall motor's sub-brand Euler, has named all its “female-only” car with a kind of cat, like "white cat" or "punk cat". 

So Ran, let me ask you a question: which one of the following features in a car sounds more attractive to you? Space designed especially to put your high-heels and purse, lovely colours and shapes, or the all-covered 360-degree parking cameras?

R: Hmm, it’s a very difficult choice to make. I think I’d like to add all to my wish list. In fact, I know the options you gave me actually exist in some car models. Stephanie, as a female driver to another female driver, what came first when you bought your car?

S: Good question. When I was making my decision, safety came first. It’s much more important than its colour or decoration. I’m not alone. An online poll in March asked 9221 car users on factors including brand choice and preferred model. Results show that among the factors influencing women's car-buying decisions, "brand" and “safety" are in their priorities, instead of "appearance" or "decoration". 

R: Obviously, automakers need to seriously respect what women want in their cars, and make more targeted changes on new models, instead of just painting cars in pink, because that’s just a stereotype, even disrespectful.

S: Absolutely. Women do not live in a vacuum. Because the digital era has brought so many changes in our consumption habits, convenient customer service, connectivity and interactions become a need, even a must for many consumers these days. Brands must do their research to make sure the product they’re producing gives users the right shopping experience to pay a premium, and it will drive manufacturers to reconstruct their marketing strategies and to innovate their products. In the future, successful carmakers will be those who are able to decode the secrets of women drivers.

“她经济”的崛起，为汽车市场带来一波流量，你是其中之一吗？各大汽车品牌纷纷出招，你又是否“中招”了呢？

公安部发布数据，在过去两年里，女性驾驶人数及占比呈不断上升趋势。2021年全国机动车驾驶人达4.81亿人，女性驾驶人1.62亿人，占33.68%。从2014年的0.7亿，到2021年的1.6亿，女性驾驶员正以每年1300万人左右的规模快速增长中。如果从更长远的数据来看，自2017年首次破亿之后，女性驾驶人以9.91%的复合年均增长率迅速上升，增速远高于男性的3.87%。

近日，21世纪新汽车研究院联合慧科发布《女性汽车用户偏好与消费趋势洞察报告》。从整体年龄分布来看，90后已经成为汽车消费的主要力量，00后消费群体正在崛起。参与上述报告的汽车用户中，90后女性汽车用户占比达到47.8%，成为汽车消费的绝对主力；80后女性汽车用户占比为23.4%；00后女性汽车用户占比达到18.5%。

女性用户对中国自主品牌的关注度正在提高。女性用户热议排名前十的品牌中，自主汽车品牌占据六个席位。报告收集的样本中，2021年10-12月女性汽车用户热议的品牌前十分别为长安汽车、特斯拉、长城汽车、奔驰、宝马、小鹏汽车、比亚迪、保时捷、广汽埃安、蔚来。

在新能源汽车中，女性用户占比达26.62%，是燃油车女性用户占比的1.22倍。随着更年轻的女性消费群体的到来，自主品牌汽车尤其是自主新能源汽车将迎来新的发展契机。

“她经济”概念的推动之下，汽车市场俨然成了精明的商家们争相追逐的另一片蓝海。越来越多的汽车品牌开始向女性用户发力，用尽各种手段刷新女性准车主们的好感度。如造车新势力“三巨头”之一的蔚来，在其旗下车型ES8的副驾驶座位上专门为女性设计了脚拖、包包储物空间，以此来获得女车主的青睐；而定位为女性品牌的欧拉，车内除了设置可装载高跟鞋、口红的储物空间，还有避免女性倒车入库尴尬的360度影像。

酷炫的外型，精美的内饰，好听的系列名，除了流量之外，真的能带来销量吗？究竟什么样的车才能赢得她们的芳心？

今年3月8日，懂车帝发布女性用车调研报告。该报告对9221名用户进行了问卷调查，调研方向包括影响购车因素、品牌选择、优选车型等维度。调研发现，在影响女性购车选择的因素中，女性最在乎的既不是“外观”也不是“内饰”，而是“品牌”与“安全”。由此可见，针对女性消费者的营销，不能仅靠“粉红色”作为卖点。

而随着时代变迁，消费趋势在发生变化，互联网带来了更加开放、丰富、平台化的交互体验，未来年轻用户对车的认知正在逐步脱离“重资产”的概念，向手机、电脑等电子产品的消费品无限靠近。

尤其是女性消费群体的消费理念，已经从过去注重“性价比”到注重“颜价比”，再到今天更愿意为产品带来的“体验与感受”支付溢价，这将驱动汽车厂商的品牌重构和产品布局革新，并推动汽车营销和汽车服务全方位向“拥车生活”转变。对女性消费者而言，未来，汽车厂商不仅仅是产品的生产者和提供者，更应主动发现女性用户的诉求，走进女性消费者的生活，提前培育市场需求。

（欢迎大家提供意见和反馈，请联系主播李莹亮：liyl@21jingji.com）

Executive Editor: Sonia YU

Editor: LI Yanxia

Host: Stephanie LI

Writer: Stephanie LI, ZHANG Ran, CHEN Zihui

Sound Editor: ZHANG Ran, CHEN Zihui

Graphic Designer: ZHENG Wenjing, LIAO Yuanni

Co-produced by 21st Century Business Herald Dept. of Overseas News & SFC Audio/Video Dept.

Presented by SFC

编委:  于晓娜

策划、编辑：李艳霞 

播音：李莹亮

撰稿：李莹亮、张然、陈梓慧

音频制作：张然 、陈梓慧

设计：郑文静、廖苑妮

21世纪经济报道海外部 南财音视频部  联合制作

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