Cars vs careers
The most commonly driven cars by occupation
They say that you can tell a lot about someone by the car that they drive, but do you think you’d be able to tell what somebody does for a living, purely based on the car that they drive?
Certain brands and vehicles are popular across the board, but we wondered whether there were any specific similarities in the cars driven by people in certain professions. We looked at 20 common occupations to see which were the most popular vehicles with each, as well as which occupations are most likely to be behind the wheel of some of the biggest car brands.
The professions most likely to drive each brand
First, we took a look at which occupations were most likely to own a car from some of the country’s most popular brands.
The results showed those in jobs such as architecture and banking were more likely to opt for higher-end brands such as Audi and BMW, while those working in supermarkets and fast food outlets were more likely to be behind the wheel of brands such as Ford and Vauxhall.
For example, those working in architecture were twice as likely to drive an Audi than those in fast food, with lawyers twice as likely to be behind the wheel of a Mercedes than those working in supermarkets.
Other results were more influenced by the practicalities of the job. For example, taxi drivers were the most likely drivers of Mercedes, Toyotas and Skodas, each of which have been noted for making vehicles suitable as taxis, while farmers were by far the most likely to own a Land Rover.
Favourite make & model by occupation
We also looked at the favourite make and model of 20 common occupations. On the whole, the data showed Ford, in particular the Ford Fiesta, is by far the preferred brand across the majority of jobs.
Of the 20 jobs that we looked at, Ford was the most common manufacturer in nine, while the Ford Fiesta was the most common model in 14 out of 20 jobs.
Notable variations include the VW Golf, which was favoured by taxi drivers, farmers and architects, and the Vauxhall Corsa, driven by those working in hairdressing, supermarkets and fast food outlets.
Brought to you by our car insurance experts.
Source
All data sourced from car insurance quotations made through Compare the Market between May 2019 and May 2020 grouped by business type.