The economical Toyota Yaris has knocked the Saturn Sky out of the #1 position on Gaywheels.com’s most-researched list. Continuing the quarterly reporting started early this year, Gaywheeels.com’s data shows specifically which vehicles the GLBT consumer is considering when researching vehicles online.
“This list is always a revelation. It both dispels and supports stereotypes of the GLBT consumer,” says Joe LaMuraglia, founder of Gaywheels.com. “On one hand, the most popular vehicle is a fuel-efficient, inexpensive car from a non-luxury brand, which flies in the face of the common perception that we as a group only buy import luxury brands. Note that 35% of the cars are from domestic manufacturers, and represent a myriad of price ranges. On the other hand, you can argue that most of the vehicles are stylish members of their segments and make a unique statement about their owners; which supports other generalizations.”
Gaywheels.com Top 20 Most Researched Vehicles
1 Toyota Yaris
2 Dodge Caliber
3 Volkswagen Jetta
4 Audi A3
5 Mazda MX-5 (Miata)
6 Saab 9-3
7 Pontiac G6
8 Saturn Sky
9 Toyota Camry
10 Toyota Prius
11 Pontiac Solstice
12 Mazda CX-7
13 Ford Escape-Hybrid
14 Mercedes-Benz E-Class
15 Scion xB
16 Subaru Impreza WRX Sti
17 Volkswagen Passat
18 Scion tC
19 Ford Focus
20 Mitsubishi Lancer-Evolution (tie)
20 Toyota FJ-Cruiser (tie)
20 Chevrolet Aveo (tie)
Although information, specifications and pricing on all new car and truck models are available on Gaywheels.com, each vehicle on the Most-Researched list is from a gay-friendly brand. Gaywheels.com classifies all vehicle manufacturers as gay friendly or not based on their corporate policies for offering domestic-partner benefits to their employees in the U.S. “Gay consumers as a group are more loyal to companies that demonstrate fairness and equality to the GLBT community,” LaMuraglia emphasizes. “Gaywheels.com’s Most-Researched vehicles are all from automakers that are gay friendly. This clearly shows that when armed with facts about vehicles and the companies that build them, gay consumers are more likely to shop and spend with brands that support their community.”
The Top 20 Most Researched list is based on website statistics gathered from July 1 – September 30, 2006 from Gaywheels.com New Car section powered by Edmunds.com data. Gaywheels.com will publish their Most-Researched list quarterly.
Gaywheels.com is dedicated to promoting responsible consumerism and affecting change by encouraging car shoppers to patronize gay-friendly companies throughout the vehicle purchase process. Users of the site are able to investigate which automakers and other automotive companies offer domestic partner benefits to their employees, thus qualifying them as “gay-friendly.” With that information at hand, they can make educated choices during the car-buying process. Gaywheels.com launched in June 2005 as the consummate gay-friendly automotive resource.
Check out the list at Gaywheels.com.