In today’s ultra competitive world, every organization is doing what it can to not only reach new customers, but, some could argue more importantly, to hold on to the ones they already have.
In the recently released Loyalty and Market Trends Report by Experian Automotive, we looked at Automotive Loyalty at the brand, model and corporate level to see which auto makers were the most successful at keeping their customers coming back for more.
Drum roll please … our analysis found that Ford took the top spot in Brand Loyalty* overall and that the Ford Fusion and the Ford Flex took the top two spots for brand loyalty at the model level during Q3 2012 (surpassing the Q2 2012 model loyalty leader Chevrolet Sonic).
“Ford continues to perform exceptionally well in brand loyalty, with a range of products that are getting customers back to the showroom again and again,” said Jeffrey Anderson, director of consulting and analytics for Experian Automotive. “Loyal customers provide a ready-made source of sales and constitute an important element of maintaining or expanding market share and profitability.”
Overall, Ford had seven models in the top 10 for brand loyalty. Other Ford models in the top 10 included the Ford Edge, Ford Five Hundred, Ford Fiesta, Ford Escape and Ford Focus. The other top 10 finishers include the Chevrolet Sonic, Kia Forte and Cadillac DTS.
When looking at the overall brand level (or when the owner of a certain brand returned to market to buy the same brand of car regardless of the model), the analysis found that Ford and Toyota maintained the top two spots, and Kia and Hyundai moved into the third and fourth positions, surpassing Honda.
In regards to Corporate loyalty, Toyota, GM and Ford hold the top three spots, with Hyundai, Honda, Chrysler, Subaru, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen rounding out the top ten.
The full report also highlighted several other areas of the Auto industry including registration trends, market share shifts and changes in the average vehicle age.
All of this information will be presented in a free webinar on Jan. 23 at 11 a.m. Pacific/1 p.m. Central/2 p.m. Eastern. If you would like to attend the event, please visit www.ExperianAutomotive.com to register. Experian Automotive also will be tweeting highlights from the report during the Webinar on Twitter @Experian_Auto using #EXPAuto. If you can’t make the live event, a recording will be available on the site for download.
*To measure loyalty, we looked at vehicle owners and their subsequent vehicle purchase. For example, if you owned an Acura, then purchased a Honda, you would be considered Corporate Loyal, but not Brand Loyal. To be Brand Loyal, you need to buy another Acura.
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