“There is no female mind,” novelist Charlotte Perkins Gilman once said. “The brain is not an organ of sex. Might as well speak of a female liver.”

While that may or may not be true, one area where there is a distinct difference in gender is the world of automobiles. Many studies show that men and women not only have different preferences in the types of automobiles they drive, they also have different preferences in automotive features.

One interesting fact is that there are a lot more cars that attract an extreme level of interest from men than cars that attract an extreme level of interest from women.

According to a study by J.D. Power and Associates, the three cars that were purchased most by women over the last three months were the Volkswagen Tiguan, the Volkswagen Beetle and the Hyundai Tucson. Only the Tiguan had over 60 percent female ownership, coming in at 61.7 percent. This is compared to a long list of cars, like the Porsche 911 and the Chevrolet Corvette, that have historically had over 90 percent male ownership.

“It’s kind of surprising to me, having been an observer of this industry for a long, long time, the fact that nothing is really a woman’s car compared to some of those performance cars, which are male cars,” said Jack Nerad, senior editor at the Kelley Blue Book.

Nearly all of the cars that women are most interested in fall into the categories of crossovers or sporty-but-inexpensive. This is due somewhat to the fact that J.D. Power’s list is based on what name ends up on the sales contract. Therefore, cars bought by husbands for their wives are not well represented. As a result, the list is a more accurate picture of what younger, single women are driving.

“Young women tend to like small crossovers,” said Tom Libby, senior director of industry analysis for J.D. Power. “Young women tend to like sporty vehicles, but not pricey, sporty vehicles. But (the crossover) has in a way replaced the inexpensive sporty car as a vehicle that appeals to younger women.”

Women Want Safety

When it comes to what goes into a car, experts agree that women are much more interested in safety than men, while men put a higher premium on performance and newer gadgets.

“To generalize it, where females exhibit stronger levels of interest are the safety features, and there is a less level of interest for the infotainment -- the entertainment/information type of things,” said Mike Marshall, director of automotive emerging technologies for J.D. Power.

Nerad said that women’s interest in safety is more limited to passive safety features such as airbags, rollover protection and advanced seat belts than active safety features such as lane-departure warnings and electronic stability control, which can help drivers avoid accidents. That may be because men are more willing to play around with newer technology than women are.

“Generally, women aren’t the early adopters (of newer technology) going in first and foremost. That’s generally men,” said Neil Oddes, director of product research analysis for J.D. Power. “What we see with females is that, generally, the safety features that keep coming up are things that are going to keep their children safe and things like that.”

Nerad agreed that women’s higher interest in safety may have something to do with motherly instincts.

“I think it is kind of a cocooning approach, a nurturing approach,” said Nerad. “I think there is not as much depth of understanding necessarily of the advantages of avoiding an accident, being able to steer around it. I think there’s some sense that maybe an accident is inevitable, and you want to be protected as best you can if that is going to happen.”

Nerad also said that women have a more practical approach to car shopping than men do, and that is why their purchases are more based on safety than what the car’s zero to 60 mph time is.

“I think women are better acquirers of information. They’re more rational in their purchase process. They seek information perhaps more so than men,” said Nerad. “Even men that don’t know a whole lot about cars feel that they should and kind of act that way. As opposed to women, who are frankly not usually so knowledgeable about cars and are comfortable with not being so knowledgeable, because they will seek out information and then make a decision based on what they’ve learned.”

More Marketing To Women?

So, while Sigmund Freud said he was never able to figure out the great question of what women want, through its studies the auto industry seems to have learned quite a bit about what women want to drive. Does this mean that in the future we may see more autos marketed directly to women and some cars that have a 90-percent female ownership?

"No, not really," said Nerad. "I would say that looking at recent advertising, the Infinity EX35 advertising seems very female oriented. I think that’s about it. A lot of Volkswagens skew female, but you don’t really see them advertising to women. A lot of it is still more male oriented in their advertising, or a combination of guys and women."

This is opposed to there being many autos and advertising campaigns that are blatantly marketed to men, such as Chevy's famous "Like A Rock" campaign. There are simply very few auto ad campaigns geared toward women, and that may be why there are only a handful of cars that have over 50 percent female ownership.

“I think (auto makers) are a little leery of making a car a women’s car, because I think there’s a feeling that it would kill it for all men,” said Nerad. “Would you have incremental gains by making it all female, or would you lose something? I think the sense is that they would lose something.”