Aston Martin exec claims women are driving the global SUV boom…

By: CAR magazine

Aston Martin’s global marketing chief says women are behind the ever-increasing popularity of SUVs, claiming “they want to feel safe”.

Speaking to motoring.com.au, Simon Sproule, the British firm’s vice-president and chief marketing officer, said SUVs ticked a number of boxes for the average female driver.

“They want to feel safe, they want to be protected, they want to be able to see ahead. The SUV class of cars have attributes that correlate more strongly with what women want,” Sproule told the Australian publication.

“SUVs are attractive to both sexes but there is a closer correlation between what women look for in a car and an SUV or crossover type of vehicle.

“I think what changed the SUV market and gave it much broader global appeal was the creation of the so-called crossover, which softened the extremes of truck-based SUVs and transitioned to unibody platforms which rode and handled more like a conventional car,” he added.

Aston Martin is expected to reveal its first SUV, badged as the DBX, towards the end of 2019.

“Eighty percent of car sales in the world are decided by women. It logically follows that their vehicle preferences will have a substantial impact on the market. The industry knows it and they just have to get over it,” Sproule said.

Speaking about the upcoming DBX, he said the firm’s “primary objective was to create another beautiful looking Aston Martin that had the attributes needed to be successful in the luxury market, regardless of gender”.

“We did not set out to create a ‘car for women’ but instead created a new Aston Martin with the characteristics of an SUV. Like all Aston Martins, they have appeal to both sexes driven by design, performance, heritage and rarity,” Sproule explained.

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