From Autoblog comes a pointer to this article in the U.K.’s News.Telegraph about ways automobile manufacturers and dealers are making their showrooms more “female friendly.”  The obvious solution?  Employ more women:

"We are now actively trying to recruit more female staff," said [Honda]spokesman Paul Ormond. "It is important to treat women with the respect they deserve and not to make stupid remarks, patronise them or talk down to them. . . . Mr Ormond said female sales staff tended to be seen as more honest, more inclined to be realistic and less flamboyant than male counterparts.

According to the article, Ford has a women’s product panel that “mystery shops” for cars in the company’s showrooms. 

"When we first started, our initial findings were disastrous," said Angela Savage, the chairman of the panel. "But things have moved on. In the early 1990s, I don't think anyone realised quite how much influence females had in the purchase of the family car, or the spending power that the independent women had. Car dealerships are much better nowadays."

Are lawyers’ offices?