Women's World Car of the Year

I was thrilled to bits when an award winning motoring journalist, Sandy Myhre, invited me to be the UK judge of the Women's World Car of the Year. What an honour!

The criteria for choosing the Women’s Car of the Year is pretty simple – eight women judges from around the world are asked to vote according to the criteria women use when buying a car, from sex appeal to safety, storage space, driveability and the car’s environmental footprint. The winner may not reach 0-100 mph in less than six seconds, but it will be a car that appeals to women.

CJ started testing cars from a young age…!

These first-ever Women's World Car of the Year awards were announced from London in December. The supreme winner, the car that received the greatest number of votes, is the Jaguar XF.

There are four categories in these awards and individual results are:

That a luxury car has won the supreme award in the Women's World Car of the Year is an unexpected result given that many in the car industry consider the ubiquitous 'shopping basket' a 'woman's' car. But judges clearly considered the Jaguar XF to be well-constructed, competent, comfortable, a combination of sport and luxury and ideal for women.

Why a women’s world car?

One thing I wasn’t aware of was that in 2007, the World Car Of The Year was tested, voted for, and chosen by men. Not one woman journalist, writer or driver was asked her opinion. Women buy cars too, don’t we?!

Something else that personally, I hadn’t appreciated, was that apparently a lot of women don’t buy motoring magazines when they come to buy a car. Men pore over Autocar, What Car? and the like, devouring statistics and comparing torque before they make their decision. But women? Hmmm. Where do we go for advice? And can we trust a car sales man?

This got me thinking about this award, and how it could help give women a heads-up of what cars are out there, and which we thought were the best.

Until recently, it has been openly acknowledged that women make the final decision in the majority of all private car purchases, but what about corporate sales? The Economist suggested earlier this year that women will make the final decision in as much as 85% of all company cars in the future.

I am very proud to be part of this first, world-wide, 2009 World Women's Car Of The Year Award. We're creating history as well as sending a clear message to the car industry.

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