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Women and the Automotive Industry - Market Statistics

"We don't do pink trucks," said Sipes, who as vehicle line director oversees development of GM's full-size SUVs and has women working as an assistant chief engineer and in finance, marketing and program management. "But we now realize these trucks are being purchased by women as well as men. And if you don't have women involved on a daily basis ... in that product design, you're going to alienate those women who would love to buy it otherwise."

GM Chairman Rick Wagoner says he is counting on Sipes' new line of trucks to help restore the company's profitability. The designs will include greater visibility, instrument panels that sit lower and farther forward to put more distance between occupants and air bags, adjustable pedals for drivers of different sizes and lightweight materials so that seats and doors can be moved more easily by people with less upper-body strength - all elements that were added by women with women in mind, Sipes said.

Such changes are cropping up throughout the marketplace. An entirely new category of vehicle - the crossover, or car-like SUV - has evolved largely from women's desire for a vehicle that is sportier than a minivan but handles better than a truck. The introduction of such features as run-flat tires and the wider marketing of safety technology all trace back to efforts to reach female drivers, said Maureen Sullivan Martin, an industry consultant and spokeswoman for the Automotive Women's Alliance.

"I think everyone would agree we have a long way to go, but the manufacturers and suppliers are embracing" an emphasis on women, Martin said. "It may be slow, but it certainly has a high return on investment."

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