Volvo's `female-friendly' car creates a stir

[dArKeR]

NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE , GENEVA
Sunday, Mar 07, 2004,Page 11

Car shows, it has to be said, are for men. The talk is of torque and horsepower. The biggest names, Porsche and Ferrari, are testosterone on wheels, while the lesser ones adorn their cars with slinky women, lending these shows a retro feel that is part The Price Is Right, part Playboy Club.

So when Volvo rolled into the Geneva Motor Show this week with a car designed by women, for women, the reaction among the mostly male crowd can best be described as a collective grinding of the gears.

They gaped at the car's gull-wing doors, designed to make it easier for women to enter and exit. They clucked at the rear seats, which flip up like theater seats to store shopping bags. They lampooned a rubber bumper that swathes the car, protecting it from parking-lot dings and scratches.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2004/03/07/2003101527

[tridim]

1. Is that the "F" Series?

Sounds like the Swedes watch The Simpsons.

[BlueJazz]

2. I saw it on the news tonight and I must say....

It looked pretty damn cool. the styling was awesome and the inside was built to accommodate just about any kind of shopping. I'd buy one.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. Yeah!

My personal suspicion is that women are more sensible when buying cars, so one designed by and for them would be a pretty sensible car.

I got no problem with gullwing doors and seats that flip up to carry more cargo.

And if the rubber bumper doesn't look too stupid-- who doesn't have a problem with parking lot dings?

I betcha The auto parking thing probably doesn't work too well, though.

[starroute]

4. Isn't that the one where the hood doesn't open?

The whole front of the car is moulded in one piece which can be removed only by a Volvo mechanic.

"Honestly, the only time I open the bonnet on my car is when I want to fill up washer fluid," said Tatiana Butovitsch Temm.

<snip>

"So we shifted the filling station for washer fluid to the side of the car, next to where you fill up fuel, and we closed the bonnet for good."

The car should be programmed to discover any problems under the bonnet, then send a message to the garage to let them know.

The mechanics would then contact the women directly to invite them over.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3528757.stm

[lazarus]

5. The sealed bonnet is a problem

How does one use jumper cables, for instance?

But the rest of it seems sensible.

[TreasonousBastard]

6. Betcha the sealed hood wouldn't make it to production...

since a lot of women know how to check the oil, jumpstart, and change sparkplugs.

Besides, even the ones who don't have husbands and boyfriends.

(some of whom don't know how to check the oil either, though)

And, who wants to be a slave to the dealer's service department?

[54anickel]

7. Had the same thought, what about checking changing oil, even if I go

to one of those quick oil change joints.
I do minor maintenance jobs on my own car, I wouldn't buy one if I couldn't get under the hood.

[Devil Dog Dem]

8. But the Volvo is already a chick car!

what's new?

[Fire]

9. <n/t>

I don't understand. Why exactly is there a need for a "female friendly" car? What's that supposed to mean?