LA Times: For some reason, gear ratios don’t interest most women. But as women continue to reshape the male-dominated auto industry, they do want to know about the space in a car’s interior, its exterior styling and its fuel economy and safety ratings, said Tara Weingarten, a founder of Vroomgirls, one of the newest of a small but growing number of automobile websites aimed at women.
While there are few of these specialized car sites, they can pack some real punch. Women influence nearly 70% of new-car purchase decisions and make about 40% of the purchases, industry officials say.
And automakers and auto-related companies scour the Web for new women-oriented sites, seeking effective alternative ways to advertise their products.
“Potentially, a new site like (Vroomgirls) has 100% of the attention of the visitors she gets — as opposed to maybe 1% of the visitors to some general site,” said Scott Monty, head of social media at Ford Motor Co. “Consumers want to know about what matters to them, and they want to know it now.”
Web neophyte Weingarten and her business partner, Marjory Hawkins of Austin, Texas, hope to draw a sizable share of those clicks with quality and style.
Specialized websites beckon to women who care about cars [LA Times]