In 1955, Chrysler offered the Dodge LaFemme for female car buyers. It was pink with pink interior and offered other female centric goodies such as a raincoat, rain hat, umbrella, and even a matching purse was available. Essentially the model was an upgrade specific for women. Only about 2,500 of these cars were made and Chrysler only offered them for two years. Although appealing to some, the car did not sell well overall.

Today, Honda is trying something similar, but only in Japan. The Honda Fit She’s is an upgrade option of the Honda Fit and is pink with pink interior. It also offers UV protection and “Plasmacluster” climate control claiming to improve skin quality.

Pink cars do appeal to some women, look at the number of Mary Kay cars on the road, but many women are not interested in pink as a car color. In addition, the features of both these “for women” cars only appeal to some women. I offer the Volvo concept car, “Your Concept Car,” to back up my opinion. When a team of women were asked to design a car for women, the color of the car and protection from UV rays were not part of their concept. Instead, a better line of vision, easier maintenance, easy-clean paint, no gas cap, and gull-wing doors for loading large items became important.

Marketing to women means more than pink. In fact, pink can actually turn away some women. Instead, functionality becomes more important in women’s, and men’s, lives.

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