What carmakers often mean when they say a car is well-designed is that it appeals to men, particularly to their less noble instinct. 'Beautiful body'. 'She must move like a dream'. But auto-macho is going out of style. In America, 47% of new private cars are bought by women, up from 36% in 1989. Add the influence women have on a family's car-buying, and it is probable that women are more influential overall in choosing cars than men. So, carmakers are learning to create designs that appeal to them.

Women tend to buy cheaper cars, largely because working women tend to have lower income. In America, they buy 55% of the small cars, 44% of medium sized ones, but only 28% of large and luxurious models. They put more store on reliability than men do-probably a hidden reason for the rise in Japanese imports.

American carmakers are now tailoring certain versions of their cars with women in mind. And they are learning that design can sway even normally pragmatic women as a comparison between Ford's Thunderbird and Mercury Cougar demonstrates. The Thunderbird is a high performance car - i.e., it goes fast and is styled to look aggressive. Less than 40% of Thunderbirds are bought by women. But the same car with a more sedate body, a different name (The Cougar) and different advertising is as popular with women as it is with men.

Question :The cars that are most likely to sell would be: