Women are undervalued in the process of buying a new car.

It's no secret that the automotive sector is still highly masculinized and pays little attention to gender inequalities. new Citroën study In the United Kingdom, it goes further and highlights the difficulties and hostility that many women encounter when buying a new car.

The study, commissioned by Citroën in 2025 and based on more than 7,500 satisfaction surveys of women in the United Kingdom, concludes that 48% of respondents say the new car sales process is designed by and for men. Forty-four percent of women feel patronized by men during the purchasing process, and only 25% are fully satisfied with their car buying experience. This reality explains another of the report's devastating findings, which indicates that women are four times more likely to seek advice from a female salesperson than from a male.

The age group that feels the least confident about buying a new car is precisely the youngest women, between 18 and 24 years old. They are the most dissatisfied with the new car buying process and the ones who most report having experienced condescension from salespeople, accounting for 55% of the total.

The data shows that women are victims of sexist stereotypes and are treated with condescension during the new vehicle purchasing process at dealerships. Ninety-five percent of those surveyed say they were involved in the purchase of the family vehicle, and only 39% of women say they are solely responsible for the final choice of car.

Discriminated against in ads and websites

Beyond the purchasing process at the dealership, the study commissioned by Citroën shows that 77% of women surveyed value seeing a diverse range of buyers on brand websites very positively, and 64% consider it essential to see women they can identify with in the advertising and marketing campaigns of major manufacturers.