Imported post
I do except that women and men view cars and their appointments or lack of them with a different eye. I can't see that unless the gender engineering/designs are in fierce competition that there's anything to lose.
I remember my wife really being ticked off when we looked at a Volvo that didn't have a vanity mirror for the driver That one small omission left a strong impression in my wife's mind after leaving the showroom -- and that was Volvo wasn't considering women driver's needs.
The MCC approach should help Volvo avoid making this type of mistake.
I believe women either on their own or with their partners have a stong influence in the car purchase decision when it comes to colors, interior design, exit/entry conditions, price, fuel economy and comfort. The man looks at wheels, engine, underneath, instrumentation, price, exhaust pipe (one or two ), tires, outward styling, handling, HP figures, etc. You get the idea, right?
Sooooo, having both genders involved with the car's design make sense to me.
Now if the MCC evolves to manufacturing and delivering cars to dealership lots it will certainly be interesting to see what the men think of it especially given that many will not be aware of it being designed exclusively by women.
I agree that if Volvo makes a big marketing issue about the all-women designed car it will cause men to surely shun it without even taking a look even.
Take the Apple laptop of a few years ago. It's design quickly created the name of "handbag" and even "toilet seat", plus it's rather femine colors were ridiculed. Sure, some men bought it but most shunned it from what I read. Then Apple evolved it to the white iBook or ice iBook and it amazingly appealed to both genders -- they got it right. Volvo needs to take a hard look at the Apple product rollout and more importantly because it wasn't related to an all-women design even.
What does a lady's car look like -- is it pink? Does it look more aerodynamic than aggressive? Does it have non flashy looking wheels, more storage for tissue boxes and makeup, far more color choices, a radio operation that doesn't confuse, elimination of Geartronic, reduction in toggle switches, a cockpit that doesn't resemble that of a jet plane, more automated car operations requiring less driving skills, removal of the tachometer ?
Here's a ref to Don't Paint It Pink article -- Agenda for Volvo?s worldwide magazine, distributed to 27,000 of it's employees
Regards -- Barry Sharp
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Current: MY2012 XC70 T6/Twi Bronze/Espresso Brown/Polestar/Platinum/BLIS/Tech/ABL/Scuff Plates/Front&Rear cameras
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