After focusing its fact-finding mission on the evolving needs of women, the study confirmed what we’ve known for years: Women want more from their cars, and we’d like them to suit our style as well as our needs.

According to the study, here’s what’s women would like to see in a car:

- More flexibility. In the course of a single day, a woman’s car might be a kids’ taxi service, a mobile office, a transport vehicle for soccer equipment and even a party wagon for a gaggle of girlfriends. We need cars that can adapt to the ever-changing needs of our days just as well as we do!

- More connections. Women tend to use technology differently than men. We don’t see them as entertainment gadgets so much as we see them as security devices. We want ways to be able to stay charged and connected, from our GPS/OnStar systems to our cell phones and iPods.

- More space! As we’ve already established, women use their cars for a lot of different reasons. In fact, it seems that any car driven by a woman should automatically earn the MPV (multi-purpose vehicle) description. With that in mind, we’d like more space to stow our stuff, please!

-  More style. Just because we have to drop off the kids and the dry cleaning, that shouldn’t mean we have to look like we’re driving a boxy commercial vehicle! High on the list was the demand for “fun, non-mom” vehicles.

- More environmental friendliness. Leave the gas guzzlers on the lot; today’s women drivers want cars that are basically like Brad Pitt, if Brad Pitt were a car. In other words, they want something that looks good, is environmentally friendly and can fit in whatever role is demanded.

Finally, the study found that women find a lot of safety and security inside their automobiles. Because we tend to keep a lot of personal items in our cars, they become an extension of our homes and we find it easy to relax and unwind behind the wheel.

Until, of course, just like at home, the phone starts ringing and the kids start fighting…