During the brand loyalty research conducted for the sixth time this year, the J. D. Power its experts investigate whether customers who bought a new one with their old car credited stayed with the original brand or switched again, regardless of the age of the car they handed in.
In order to avoid misunderstandings, purchases of brand new cars ordered exclusively from dealerships were analyzed in five segments: premium passenger cars and recreational vehicles, mass market passenger cars and recreational vehicles, and pickups.
During the economically turbulent period of the last few years, for those brands where customer loyalty was not above average anyway, the proportion of returning customers dropped significantly – people bought what was available. Car manufacturers traditionally strong in terms of brand loyalty did not sell more cars either, but for other reasons: their customers preferred to postpone the planned purchase and wait, just to stay with their proven brand.
By now, inventory and delivery times have normalized for most automakers, and customers are starting to return to their favorite brands. For most car manufacturers, this did not lead to an increase in sales, but for traditionally strong brands such as Toyota or Lexus, sales jumped significantly. An analysis of transactions between September 2023 and August 2024 revealed that Toyota enjoys outstanding customer loyalty in the market for mass-market passenger cars and Lexus for premium leisure vehicles. The premium segment was dominated by the Germans.
For the third consecutive year, Porsche ranked first among premium brand car owners with a loyalty rate of 57.5%. Mercedes-Benz is in second place with 49.0%.
Lexus leads the list of premium SUVs with a loyalty rate of 60.2%. BMW is in second place with 55.8%. For the third year in a row, Toyota ranked first among buyers of mass models, with a loyalty rate of 62.5%. Honda is in second place with 58.8%.
Honda leads the list of mass market recreational vehicles with a loyalty rate of 64.2%. Subaru is in second place with 62.6%. For the third year in a row, Ford ranked first among truck owners with a loyalty rate of 65.1%, the highest loyalty rate in the study. Toyota is in second place with 60.8%.
Source: www.vezess.hu
