#BrandLoyalty

Some people love their vehicle so much that when it comes time to replace it, they purchase the same model.

Customers are more loyal to automotive brands than they’ve been in 10 years.

Loyalty is important to automakers, and those that managed to increase their brand loyalty saw gains in market share last year. 

Porsche and Cadillac saw the biggest jumps in brand loyalty in the first quarter of 2013 while Ford retained its crown as the overall brand loyalty leader.

If you think a little recall can keep a company like Toyota down, you’d be wrong. Even with the slew of recalls in 2009, the setbacks have had “little to no impact” on how consumers see Toyota.

Besides revealing what consumers think about specific vehicle brands based on seven different categories, Consumer Reports‘ latest Brand survey also shows what nameplates they will consider for their next new vehicle.

The all important metric of “conquest sales”, vehicles which steal owners away from another brand, has a new king, the Hyundai Sonata. The Korean automaker’s mid-size sedan has been a smash hit, and evidently done its part to steal consumers aware from other manufacturers.

When it comes to automotive loyalty, Ford proves they must be doing something right, as the company just won the 15th annual Polk Automotive Loyalty Awards.

The last time that Ford won this award was back in 1999, so they’ve had plenty of time to work on the customer loyalty aspect of the business. And it’s paid off – Ford came away on top in the many categories, including: Overall Loyalty to Manufacturer; Overall Loyalty to Make; Ethnic Market Make – African-American; and Mid/Full-Size Pickup for its F-Series truck line up.

The Polk’s Automotive Loyalty Awards are given to automakers that retain car owners over repeat buying cycles. To track owner loyalty, Polk follows trends throughout the year and completes in-depth analysis of automotive shopping behaviors, related market influencers and development of retention strategies. Polk also determines automotive loyalty when a new vehicle consumer purchases or leases another new vehicle of the same model or make.

According to Brad Smith, director of Polk’s loyalty management practice, the 2010 awards are based on an analysis of 4.9 million return-to-market events during the 2010 model year. The 2010 model year runs from October 1, 2009 through September 30, 2010.

You can see the full list of winners after the jump.

Car buyers are pretty loyal – they tend to stick with the same brand when it comes time to buying a new car. But if they were to switch sides, a new Consumer Reports survey says that higher quality, better fuel economy, and a lower price are the big three factors influencing their decision.

This telephone survey was conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, and they interviewed more than 1,700 adults whose household owns at least one vehicle.

The results showed that brand attachment varies by age and gender. Women are more likely to stick to a brand – 54 percent of women would purchase a new car that is the same make as they currently own. And brand loyalty seems to be prevalent in older drivers as well. According to drivers over 35 years old, over 50 percent plan to stay with the brand they already own. Younger drivers are more fickle – only 41 percent of drivers aged 18 to 34 years old would buy the same brand again.

It also seems that money can’t buy you love or loyalty. Results from this survey show that household income does not play a role in car brand loyalty. When compared to drivers who pulled in a modest salary, affluent consumers were nearly equal in their attachment to a brand.

What does come from this research is it proves that car buyers are, not surprisingly, attracted to the highest quality and most value for the money. Basically, our purchasing influences are those that can save money up front, at the pump, and in the long run. For more car buying motivators, see the graph after the jump.

[Source: Consumer Reports]

According to a new survey by Consumer Reports, Honda has surpassed Toyota to become the number one brand for customer loyalty in the U.S. According to the new report performed in April, 68 percent of current Honda owners said they would “most likely” buy another Honda – up one percentage point. Toyota slipped to third place dropping 13 percentage points from 70 percent to just 57 percent. This allowed Ford to sneak into the second place spot, gaining three points for a total of 61 percent.