Not the best comparison. Harley is a brand and so is Infiniti. Both have male and female owners. I am going to go out on a limb and say that Harley tends to have more male owners. Car brands have more of a level playing field for the most part. Hummer is one that may be an exception. I am not that familiar with Harley but in my limited knowledge of the brand I think there are models that seem to be more appealing to women than men. Same thing with cars. There are certainly certain models of cars that appeal more to women than men for various reasons and style is the major one. So I think the question is very valid. Is the EX35 are car that has a more feminine appeal. A Mazda Miatta is another car that seems to have that although there are certainly many male owners.

full throttle baby!!!

This EX 35 is fo me!

Sign me up!!!

I noticed your EX is Dark Currant. I would appreciate if you posted a picture of it. It is hard to get a good idea of how that looks on any of the Infiniti pics.

So far, the chics dig it, and by chics I mean my other kids (daughters) aged 6 and 9.

The interior you are referring to I believe is Chestnut. I agree seems like a very nice combo and that is why I am interested in it.

I have one in inventory now, a classy combo indeed.

THIS THREAD IS BECOMING JUICY. WHAT AN AGRESSIVE ATTACK. TALK ABOUT THINKING BEFORE WRITING. I'M NOT SURE WHO IS THE DUMBASS BUT I THINK I KNOW SOMEONE WHO NEEDS A SHRINK!!!!!

IT'S A WOMANIZER CAR - - - - - FINAL ANSWER!!!!!

Hubby drives a Titan, son drives a maxima.

Salesmen said it was the "Infiniti" built for women. It's the most quiet of all of the infiniti vehicles, the sleekest and sexiest. The only thing missing is the gas and brake pedal adjustments like they have on the full size SUV.

BTW, it's February, I've had mine since December and I have yet to see another one on the road...

WELL I GUESS THAT IT'S A RARE SPECIES THAT ONLY THE AVID CONNOISEURS WILL APPRECIATE.

BUILT FOR A WOMEN THUS APPEALING FOR THE MAN!

Now, is the EX35 the sort of vehicle that would appeal to someone with a traditional view of masculinity? Probably not.

The last eX womanizer in the world!

When I test drove the EX at a dealership, I noticed the throttle felt a bit lagging compared to the G35. I mentioned it to the salesman and he said in sales training, Infiniti stated that the throttle response was toned down on purpose because during product testing, women didn't like the responsive throttle.

Here are a couple of videos that talk about women buyers. I've read in other places too but can't find the links right now.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Pemw5vqEiYE (see 5:30)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ovh1InBn3ZM

That said, although it has given me second thoughts, I'm still considering...


Modified by acarnut at 7:52 PM 2/15/2008

Are people not comfortable in their own skin? Who cares what the "perception" is, if you like and it fits your needs then buy it. I bought a Rogue, which is basically a mini Murano. The Murano was always "labeled" as a womans car. What does that make the Rogue? The Rogue was marketed at younger males, which I am. I didn't think about male or female, the car fits my needs perfectly! Perception is what you make of it, now go out and buy the EX or perhaps a Rogue?

Second question... does it really matter?

If you like the look of the car, it fits your needs and you can afford it, go buy it.

People don't seem to understand the market segment Infiniti is going after with this vehicle. It's a different market than the G35, G37 and FX. So even if some of the specs look the same, there are going to be differences due to the perceived needs of the market segment.... like a less aggressive throttle response, no kids so a smaller backseat etc...

My guess is that they designed this car to be more gender neutral than the G37, G35 and FX, doesn't mean it's a "woman's car" just that it most likely will appeal to a broader market. Not a bad strategy when you think about it since this the EX is kind of in a micro-segment, so need to get interest from as many people as possible.

Seen 1 commercial with a woman and 1 with a man on TV... looks like the gender balance is neutral so far.

Modified by tazdevl at 3:37 PM 2/21/2008

The last EX womanizer in the world!

There's really nothing at all in any of the styling cues on this vehicle which would shout either "macho" or "cute", IMHO - just....well, "nice".

People of either sex who might appreciate sleeker, somewhat more minimalistically articulated yet sinuous lines and harmonious massing of shapes will probably like this car, the same way both men and women of a certain aesthetic sensibility, even non-musical ones, can appreciate a Steinway concert grand perhaps.

And the company's current marketing campaign would seem to confirm the pan-gender demographic they're targeting: two commercials are currently running, one featuring a driver sporting a Y chromosome & the other without.

Does this car offer appeal to women? Certainly. The more luxurious interior was clearly put there to get women drivers (& male drivers' female passengers) in Infiniti's corner during the sales presentation. But frankly I know just as many men who like nice, cushy seating as women. Indeed, a whole company, La-Z-boy, was built on that very assumption.

The Around View Monitor will appeal to women whose palms get sweaty at the thought of parallel parking. But I suspect it's also gonna prove mighty handy for macho guys who have a tendency to leave the leaf blower & other big boy toys in the driveway too.

This car's engine first rate engine & high tech enhancements are obviously going to appeal to men's primordial need for speed. But the idea that zippy acceleration & smooth handling isn't also appreciated by women is a myth: we like the sense of security those features offer while climbing hills and rounding corners.

So it would seem that, because the folks at Infiniti's design studio decided to leave the gender specificity package off of this model altogether, buyers are gonna just have to supply their own with this one. It follows also, therefore, that the only way for anybody else to tell at all if the EX 35 is really a 'chick car' or a 'guy ride' is by carefully observing the person occupying the driver's seat.

Does the driver refuse to stop & ask for directions, hog the remote key fob & change the music track every 2.5 seconds? Then it is, by God, a manly man's car.

Does the driver like to keep at least three shades of emergency lipstick in the armrest storage compartment at all times, take 15 minutes to parallel park even with the AVM & think the maps in the glove box are only there to scrape the gunk off the heels of her Christian Louboutins? Then presto! It magically turns into a coach fit for a princess.

The good news is that the lack of built-in gender specificity should make the EX the ideal 'couples' car'. Women won't mind one itty bit driving over to the gas station to ask someone where the heck they are while their gadget-mad men figure out how to load up the music hard drive riding shotgun.

And guys will always jump at the chance to take the wheel & press pedal to metal when the gorgeous ladies in their lives get the sudden yen to color-coordinate their lipstick with the handbag hooked around that convenient little hanger thingy on the seatback!

Two for the price of one! Hey, you sure can't beat that now, can ya?

Jon

We were all 28 once ... enjoy it while you can. For me, I'm enjoying 48 more because aspects like improved wisdom and financial stability allow me to better choose the car I drive (among countless other things)!

If you're VERY lucky, you'll be "some OLD MAN" driving a nice car one day. After all (with due respect to the efforts of Ponce de Leon), the only alternative to aging ... is death.

My other Vehicle...
2003 GMC Sierra Denali
w/AWD & QuadraSteer.

And yet, you did read this thread and respond.

Seriously though, as someone aptly said, it's a matter of being comfortable "in your own skin". For me, I chose this car for what I want from a vehicle (overall size, AWD, luxury/quality, performance, cargo access, technology, reliability), with NO consideration whatsoever for whether it's more masculine or feminine ... but, it's still kinda fun to see what others think about the topic.

Really, I think if you appreciate nice lines with as much utility as can be squeezed out of a sports car without sacrificing great road handling & a zippy engine, you're going to be attracted to this car no matter what letter chromosomes you're packing into the driver's seat.

It doesn't read male or female to me at all so I'm kind of hard-pressed to figure out how anybody else reads gender into this vehicle, but then to be honest not many of these scream machismo to me either:

Forbes List of Top 10 Cars Driven By Men

Now a Hummer? OK, yep, I do see that as a guy's car. Oddly though, it seems like I see that being driven just as often by women around here.

Where i live crossover suv's are the most popular vs the bulky sized ones. I'll see a couple Ex's a week in fact there's a few driving around in my neighborhood. Basically i'am just making a generalization of the drivers in my area, and what I've seen in my city daily driving. Don't know about Texas though, to me it looks like it favors the big bulky / pickup trucks vs a crossover.

I have an 08 G35 Sedan. I see far more women driving sedans than men, but it never bothers me. It just gives me another reason to smile at them and wave. So I guess if you really want to conside it, the G is Infiniti's woman's car.

Also, the EX is definitely ruled out as being a soccer Mom car, largely because of the lack of a significant back seat. (Although I DO sometimes haul my kids- 6 and 9-around in it and they are just fine.) But even if you do have kids in it, try making a grocery store run with both kids in car. Without being able to put down one of both of the back seats, you're going to be pressed for space.

But quite frankly, I think that's also a part of why I liked it- it was something that I knew this heavily soccer-mom-populated area wouldn't take to very well. Yet with the seats down, I can easily haul my bike around, the dogs- whatever I need. Just not everything at once. But for that, we have my wife's much larger SUV.

So all things considered, by knocking out a large percentage of the population of Mom drivers, I suspect it IS more of a man's care.

Just my two cents.

Granted the EX does look like a "mini" SUV, but not without the roof racks. Without roof racks it looks like a beefy sedan.

I got a black on black EX journey without roof racks (was only like one in all of my area) and it looks bad ***.

White w/Roof Racks - Chick Car

Black w/o Roof Racks - Mans Car

My Wife's Car has the Aspen Pearl color on it... so I can concur that it's a Chick Machine... only because it hers and she drives it.

However, I like to drive it too (once in a while) and when I'm inside, I don't even notice the color as I'm flying down the road.

They are nice Machines, aren't they ?

SHE selected the EX - white (like every other car she's ever driven -- we live in AZ) I was in the showroom and sitting in the FX and enjoying the larger size of that SUV. The EX is "right-sized" for a woman driver, and she loves the overall package. I like driving it, but all of the controls are much easier to operate than on my M, and it's a smaller, tighter fit both front and back.

I may end up driving it (having said all of the above) as she wants something "bigger" with all-wheel drive (no, I don't know why, other than she wants to go skiing once every 3 years). So maybe my low-mileage M is sacrificed as the next trade-in.