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The enneagram of retail road vehicles

The example of retail road vehicles began as a humorous observation about the vehicles on the road – but it opened up into a fascinating new area of study, as we shall see.

In the ‘middle market,’ and filling most of the lot, are examples of the general-purpose family saloon. It will pack in the luggage for the holiday, or pick up some light furniture, or take waste to the dump, when required – and it will hurry through the traffic when absolutely necessary. But most of the time it is just an ordinary, general purpose, ‘non-specialist’ family vehicle: all the different requirements are ‘moderated’ to fit together on one set of wheels.

Elsewhere on the lot there are two highly specialized alternatives on sale: we might call them ‘sporty’ and ‘utility.’ On the right – at point THREE – the compact open-top two-seater. On the left – at point SIX – the practical and functional Land Rover or pick-up truck.

On the forecourt there will also be two interesting alternative models based on that standard saloon: the ‘estate car’ version, with much more space for carrying larger loads, and the discretely ‘tuned up’ version, with a range of small improvements to the performance of the engine and the brakes and the gears. These are the general-purpose vehicles with utility or sporty influences: they go on the diagram at EIGHT and ONE.

You will also find a vehicle which will seat five and which does have some storage space but which presents itself primarily as fast moving and fun – a sporty vehicle with a sideline as a general-purpose saloon. This goes on the diagram at TWO.

You can now be more practical than the estate car without buying a pick-up truck. The modern ‘MPVs’ – multi-purpose vehicles – are small comfortable vans with windows and removable car seats in the back: utility with general-purpose influence at SEVEN.

And down at the foot of the diagram, we have not the practical ‘moderated’ pragmatism of the family saloon, but the attempt to marry sporty and utility without compromising either. The modern ‘SUV’ or ‘sports utility vehicle’ is a solidly built, box-shaped four-wheel drive – with a stylish finish and a powerful sporty engine. The larger more functional SUVs belong at FIVE, the smaller sportier ones at FOUR.

Some observations from the analysis.

The vertical scale is a scale of engine size: sporty and utility both demand more power.

There is a THREE-SIX-NINE ‘triangle of simplicity’: the mass market general purpose family saloon at NINE; and the uncompromising simplicity of both the two-seater sports car at THREE and the pick-up truck at SIX. Those who buy at these points are focused on a single priority as they make their choice. The next vehicle on their wish list is likely to be one of the other three vehicles on the THREE-SIX-NINE ‘triangle of simplicity’.

The other points – the six points on ‘the hexagon of complexity’ – represent the interaction of the three key elements: sporty, utility, and the moderating influence of ‘general-purpose’ requirements. Purchasers of these vehicles are allowing these three items on their ‘vehicle wish-list’ to interact as they make their purchasing decision – so buyers who have bought on the hexagon before are likely to buy on the hexagon again.

And this is where this ‘fun analysis’ stumbled into a fascinating new area of study: we have started using the language of human choices – and that is the language of the strategy board.

Consider your own next purchase – to supplement or replace your current vehicle. Your gut reaction probably says that it will be another standard low-cost family saloon. But is there something in your head suggesting that something like a pick-up truck would be really useful? And something in your heart that would just love something a bit more sporty, like an open-top two-seater?

The enneagram of retail road vehicles is about human choices: the human choices that create and define this particular market; the human choices made in the three centers of intelligence which are head and heart and gut. And so it would make perfect logical sense if the enneagram of retail road vehicles mapped fairly accurately on to the enneagram of human decision-making – otherwise known as the strategy board. And this is how it might look:

NINE – keep it simple – the general-purpose family saloon.

ONE – full of restrained energy – the saloon with the discrete sporty upgrade.

TWO – full of the dreams and images of the heart but still wanting to be helpful – the flashy five-seater.

Competitive THREE: the two-seater sports car.

Individualist FOUR: the stylish compact SUV.

Observer FIVE: the high and powerful SUV.

Practical SIX: the pick-up truck.

Generalist SEVEN: the multi-purpose vehicle.

And strong, confident, challenging, lumbering EIGHT: the heavyweight version of that family saloon.

And many people do indeed ‘drive by type’ in accordance with this analysis – and if not by type, then by one of the linked types, along one of the paths across the board.

The market for retail road vehicles is defined by human choices. An enneagram analysis of those human choices has revealed a nine-part correlation with the strategy board – and the intriguing possibility that enneagrams of other human endeavors might also correlate with head and heart and gut, and so with the strategy board itself.

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