Women and younger car owners are the most likely to give a nickname and associate a gender to their vehicles', according to a new report from DMEautomotive.
In fact, the younger the car owner, the more likely they are to give their vehicle a nickname. Forty percent of car owners 18-24 years old give their cars a name; that drops to 30 percent for the 25-34 year-old age group.
"While these findings, on the surface, are just plain fun...they also offer an interesting, even counter-intuitive perspective on the relationships car owners, especially women and the young generation, develop with their vehicles," said Doug Van Sach, DMEautomotive's vice president for strategy and analytics.
Perhaps even more surprising is that women are more likely than men to name their vehicles: 23 percent to 18 percent.
"The accepted cliché is that men have a more passionate, personal relationship with their beloved cars, while women view them as utilitarian machines that get you from Point A to B," Van Sach said.
"But this research provides a different insight: Women are significantly more likely to christen their vehicles, and also associate a female gender with them, while more men perceive their vehicles as male."
The big question that remains: What are people naming their cars? The most common names are Baby and Betsy, which account for 4 percent of all the names. Bessie was next at 3 percent, with Black Beauty (2 percent) and Betty (1 percent) rounding out the top five.
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