That tank? It's for carpooling; men push Corvette to comeback
Ivy Israel likes adventure. She owns a Harley-Davidson, goes on safaris and recently bungee-jumped off a cliff at Victoria Falls in Africa.
So it's no surprise that the Gold Coast attorney would buy a Hummer. Driving the luxury tank, she says, is empowering.
"Other Hummer drivers give you the high-five on the road," says Ms. Israel, 32, who traded in her red Thunderbird convertible for a silver H3, the better to tow her motorcycle. "I feel like I've joined a secret society. People definitely look twice. They see you coming and they get out of the way, which is nice."
Her parking garage neighbor doesn't think so. "She can't fit her car in as well. It's been a real issue," says Ms. Israel, who has moved to another spot for now.
Ms. Israel wears straight skirts and heels to work, making it difficult to get in and out of her H3. "When I wear heels, I step up backward on the foot rail so I can get my butt up first and then swing my legs around," she says.
But it'll take more than a little inconvenience to separate her from her Hummer.
"I'm the type of girl who's worked very hard to get where I am, and I was taught to take care of myself. I can get down and dirty with the guys, so when I ride (my Harley), I ride next to them, and in the H3, I can drive over them."
For Chicago-area luxury car buyers, size, it seems, still matters. Worries about fuel economy or the environment aside, buyers want space and heft.
These high-end consumers overwhelmingly like the macho H3 — smaller than its H1 and H2 predecessors, but still a road hog. The H3, which was introduced in spring 2005, was No. 1 among men and No. 2 among women in Chicago-area luxury auto registrations from October 2005 to October 2006, according to statistics provided by Detroit-based R. L. Polk & Co., which studies automobile sales.
Of the top 10 luxury cars purchased by Chicago-area women, half were SUVs; among men, there were four. By gender, there's a lot of overlap — Lexus and Mercedes models round out the list of Cadillacs and Hummers — with one noticeable difference: Men bought far more Corvettes than women.
WOMEN GET TOUGH
With the help of marketing campaigns with a female bent (one ad saw Goldilocks driving an H3), women are showing they're not afraid to drive a car with a growling grill. In fact, they love it. And the numbers may be even higher than seen in the research, because while men may register a car on paper, women may wind up behind the wheel.
"Even though men are buying Hummers, women are the ones driving them. Husbands get them for their wives," says Chris Zammar, general manager of Weil Cadillac Hummer in Libertyville. "It's big, and you think big goes with men, but women like it, too."
If anything, Ms. Israel started out wanting to go even bigger.
"I wanted the H2 because I thought if you're going to buy a Hummer, you buy the real thing," says the real estate attorney for Shefsky & Froelich in Chicago. "But it was too big. I wanted something rugged, so I test drove the H3 and loved it," she adds, ticking off features like the XM Satellite Radio, navigation system and "extra-big tires." The H3 weighs 4,700 pounds and starts at $29,900, compared with the H2, at 6,400 pounds and $54,200.
The Cadillac Escalade — No. 7 for women and No. 8 for men — also has an "I'm bad" image. (It made news in Chicago as the vehicle of choice for 20th Ward Alderman Arenda Troutman, who was recently arrested and charged with bribery.) Quickly becoming popular with rappers and professional athletes after it was introduced in 1999, it has appeared in songs, music videos and photos of celebrities from Eminem to Jennifer Lopez.
Escalade owner Traci Jacobs of Buffalo Grove says it's "bad," all right — but in that cool-hip-suburban-mom kind of way.
"I think women are buying SUVs because of function. We do the carpooling," says the 45-year-old gemologist and appraiser and mother of two daughters. "But I was looking for luxury and speed, too. I like a fast car, and this car gets up and jumps. It's got a 400-horsepower V8, so it gets up and rocks."
In terms of utility vehicles, "size has always mattered," says Julie Hennessy, associate clinical professor of marketing at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. "Guys like putting their wives in something that's big and tough and safe. For people who need to put five or six people in a car, which includes a lot of upper-middle-income families, an SUV has a more positive image than a minivan. If you look at people sensitive to the image of the car they drive, which is who you see in the luxury car market, they need a car they can put the soccer team in or the Girl Scout troop or a bunch of friends. They want an SUV, especially a higher-end SUV with some cachet to it, like a Hummer or BMW or Lexus."
Men, meanwhile, continue to fulfill fantasies of driving fast like Steve McQueen (note: The rugged actor never drove with kids in the car).
Many seem to have harbored a desire for the racy cars for decades — and now, they can finally afford them. Dealers say Corvettes are more popular today than ever.
Interest in the Corvette began in the 1960s, when a convertible model appeared in the popular "Route 66" television show, and continues today. The Corvette, priced at $65,000, is the No. 2-selling luxury vehicle among men, even in an era of the super-lux SUV, because Corvette is synonymous with speed.
"Corvette buyers tend to be successful professionals with a lot of disposable income. It's a car they've wanted for a long time. They're adventure-seeking individuals who think about performance," says Al Lattof of the eponymous dealership in Arlington Heights. "Flat out, they're interested in speed and cornering."
"It's an image purchase," says Ms. Hennessy, the marketing professor. "Some of your Corvette or sports car owners probably own an SUV, too. It's for the well-off single male who doesn't have kids, or the kids are out of the house."
MEN RACK 'EM UP
Douglas Bespole, 50, owner of Great Lakes Milk Products Inc. in Melrose Park, says long-delayed ego gratification is a big reason he's purchased Corvettes — he has three.
"I grew up working for the family business and always driving company cars. I never had a sports car when I was young," he says. When he got older and could afford it, he purchased his first Corvette, a 1998 purple and yellow convertible pace car. Then came the 2004 Z06, a LeMans blue racing car. Last year, he bought a 2006 Z06, a more powerful model, in yellow. "People told me the ladies like yellow," he says.
He stores the prized racers in the garage of his Naperville home — stacked on top of each other with the help of car hoists, next to his Chevy Suburban.
And as for size? In the Corvette's case, being small is a big sell for buyers. It's not a car for chauffeuring kids or running errands.
John Koonce, 42, owner of Central Auto Body in Roselle, says both size and mood play a role in driving a Hummer vs. a Corvette. He should know: Mr. Koonce has owned numerous Hummers — the H1, 2 and 3 — and Corvettes. He purchased a few of each last year.
"It's about status, and each one sends a different message. With a Hummer, it's about owning the road. You get behind people and they say, 'Holy crap — what is that thing?' In a Corvette, it's about speed. They want to race you a bit. You pick one (vehicle) or the other depending on your mood."
Of Corvettes being a midlife crisis car, he says, "That's only the case if the guy can't afford it. That's a problem."