Nielsen: 2022 Chinese Women's Auto Consumption Trend Report

The "China Women's Automobile Consumption Trend Report ( 2022 )" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") jointly launched by 21st Century Business Herald, 21st Century New Automobile Research Institute and Nielsen was officially released. The report shows that female users prefer new energy vehicles and have a relatively higher demand for Internet of Vehicles services.

The potential of female automobile consumption market is increasing    

According to data released by the Ministry of Public Security, there will be 481 million motor vehicle drivers in 2021 , including 444 million car drivers. In terms of driver composition, there are 319 million male drivers, accounting for 66.32% ; there are 162 million female drivers , accounting for 33.68% . It is worth noting that there were 148 million female drivers in 2020 , accounting for 32.43% , which increased by 1.25 percentage points in 2021 .    The above changes in the proportions reflect, to a certain extent, the increasing potential of the female automobile market. In fact, according to available data, the proportion of female drivers has continued to grow since 2014 , from 23.5% in 2014 to 33.68 % in 2021 , an increase of 10 percentage points in 6 years .    Nowadays, women are becoming more and more economically independent, and their consumption needs and spending power are increasing. More and more young female users are eager to buy cars and are taking action. As families enter the era of the second car, the proportion of women buying cars will increase, and a new economic growth point is taking shape, which is the increasingly prosperous " her economy " in recent years .    

With the prosperity of the " she economy " , International Women's Day on March 8 is becoming an important marketing event in the consumer field. For car companies, understanding the consumption trends of female car consumers is crucial for product development, design and even sales.    

Therefore, 21st Century Business Herald, 21st Century New Automotive Research Institute and Nielsen extracted female samples from the "2021 China Auto Consumption Trend Survey " for analysis and compared them with male samples. The results showed that female auto consumption showed the following characteristics: the average purchase price was lower than that of men, female users preferred new energy models, had a higher degree of recognition of Chinese brands, were more accepting of online channels for car purchases, and had a higher financial penetration rate.

The purchase of car models in first-tier cities shows a polarized trend

In terms of purchasing power, female users have lower average car purchase prices than male users, and they choose models priced at RMB 100,000 or below. In first-tier cities, there is a polarization trend, with female users preferring models priced below RMB 100,000 and models priced at RMB 350,000 or above.

Among potential car-buying groups, female users prefer new energy vehicles and have a relatively higher demand for Internet of Vehicles services, and are more looking forward to exclusive door-to-door pick-up and delivery services.

In terms of brand selection, female users have a higher degree of recognition of Chinese brands, with 66.5% of respondents accepting Chinese brands, while the proportion for male users is only 46.6%.

Among the repeat buyers and potential buyers who are planning to buy a car in the next year, female buyers prefer Chinese brands, especially high-end models. From another perspective, you may find that with the rise of domestic new energy vehicle consumption, Chinese brands are increasingly targeting female consumers in car marketing. Many car companies have launched products targeting female car owners, reconstructing a new consumption pattern under the " her economy " trend.

30.4% of the respondents accept buying cars through online channels . In terms of car purchasing channels, female users are more accepting of buying new cars through online platforms than male users. 30.4% of the respondents accept buying cars through online channels, while the number of male respondents is only 23.4% .

The female financial penetration rate is as high as 58.4%    

Auto finance helps many brands accelerate their transition to the new blue ocean of China's auto market - women. In our survey, women are more willing to take out loans to buy cars than men, with a female finance penetration rate of 58.4% and 52.9% for men . Among female users, those born in the 1990s have the highest acceptance of auto finance, with a penetration rate of 69.9% , those born in the 1980s at 57.6% , and those born in the 1970s and 1960s at 48.7% . This provides data support for auto companies to actively explore the personalized consumption decision-making factors unique to women and launch truly tailored financial products and marketing services. It is foreseeable that auto finance will become an important tool and handle for many auto brands to attract female consumers.