Soft top cars most popular with older women

With summer finally here some motorists will be thinking about trading in their car for a convertible, but it seems that this is a decision far more commonly made by women than by men. Research by women’s car insurance specialist Diamond has found soft tops are most popular with women, in fact they are 28% more likely to drive one than male motorists.

The popularity of convertible cars in the UK has rocketed in the last fifteen years and the trend appears to have been led by women. Diamond looked at insurance data over the last fifteen years*. In 1999 around one per cent of the cars insured by both men and women were convertibles. By 2004, 2.8% of women and 2.4% of men were driving one and this year women have pulled clear of men, with 4.1% of women and 3.2% of men owning a soft top.

Diamond also found that convertibles are most popular with middle aged women. Nearly six times more women in their 50s drive a convertible than women aged under 20, and twice as many of them drive one than women in their 20s or 30s. For men, convertibles are also most popular for those in their 50s.

Dave Halliday, managing director of Diamond said: “Despite our unreliable weather, it’s clear a lot of British women can see the pleasure of driving a convertible car.

“It’s interesting to see that driving a soft top is more popular with older women than younger ones. They obviously know how much fun convertibles are to drive and what a great driving experience they offer.”

Diamond also compared the types of convertibles most popular with women compared with those favoured by men. For both sexes the Mercedes SLK came top, but on the whole women prefer smaller soft tops than men. Second and third most popular for women were the Mini Cooper and the Peugeot 206. While for men it was the BMW Z4 and Porsche Boxster.

The ten most popular convertible makes and models for women and men:

Women

1. Mercedes SLK
2. Mini Cooper
3. Peugeot 206
4. Mini One
5. Mazda MX-5
6. Renault Megane
7. Volkswagen Beetle
8. Peugeot 207
9. Audi A4
10. Ford Streetka

Men

1. Mercedes Slk
2. BMW Z4
3. Porsche Boxster
4. Mazda MX-5
5. Audi A4
6. Mercedes CLK
7. BMW 330
8. Renault Megane
9. Mercedes SL
10. Porsche 911

So which professions are convertible cars most popular with? For women, number one was Investment Managers - one in ten of them drive a convertible. Second was Company Directors and third was Management Consultants. For men, convertibles are most popular with Finance Directors, followed by Stockbrokers and Merchant Bankers.

The ten occupations most likely to drive a convertible for women and men:

Women

1. Investment Manager 10.14%
2. Company Director 9.35%
3. Management Consultant 9.16%
4. Merchant Banker 8.88%
5. Estate Agents Office Clerk 8.57%
6. Head of Marketing 8.44%
7. Lawyer 8.31%
8. Business Consultant 8.01%
9. Operations Manager 8.00%
10. Travelling Sales Manager 7.89%

Men

1. Director Of Finance 8.80%
2. Stockbroker 8.37%
3. Merchant Banker 7.76%
4. Head Of Marketing 7.56%
5. Barrister 7.19%
6. Company Director 6.98%
7. Dentist 6.84%
8. Car Salesman 6.80%
9. Management Consultant 6.78%
10. Salon Hairdresser 6.65%

Dave Halliday commenting, said: “It appears that convertibles are particularly popular with people in well paid financial jobs, however there were a number of interesting professions near the top of our list of occupations, including airline cabin crew (13th) and head teachers (15th) for the women and dentists (7th) and hairdressers (10th) for the men.

“Driving with the roof down needn’t be preserve of the wealthy, there are some brilliant, good value soft tops out there, especially if you’re happy to buy a used car. What better time of the year to get one, with the warmer days and longer evenings here?”

*Data based on customer base of Admiral Group