Customer Loyalty

The automotive industry achieved nearly 14.5 million new vehicle sales in 2012, which resulted in a sales improvement of 13.4% versus 2011. There are many contributing factors to this sales achievement. The following all played a part in the industry resurgence:

• Stabilized inventory levels from the Japanese automakers
• Several new product introductions from all OEMs
• Strengthening consumer confidence in the U.S. economy and
• Lower unemployment rates

Also in 2012, we began to witness OEMs placing greater...

Three new cars are striving to gain ground in the huge non-luxury small car segment. The 2013 Dodge Dart was launched last June, the redesigned 2013 Nissan Sentra last November, and the 2014 Kia Forte sedan arrives later this month. This segment accounted for 16% of all new vehicle registrations in 2012, second only to the midsize cars 17.6% among the 32 segments tracked by Polk. The non-luxury small car segment has been dominated for years by such well-known models as the Corolla, Civic and...

Every calendar year in the third quarter, the automotive industry is filled with excitement as OEM brands launch new model year products. These launches are comprised of new variants (engine, drive types), product refreshes/facelifts, all new product offerings and the next generation of existing models.

In the third quarter of 2012, two Japanese automakers (Honda and Nissan) launched the next generation of their mid-size sedan models. The all new Honda Accord and Nissan Altima boast...

For the U.S. automotive industry, superior customer loyalty was recognized this week. I had the pleasure of watching our customers receive the annual Polk Automotive Loyalty Awards in Detroit as part of the overall activities surrounding the 2013 NAIAS (North American International Auto Show). It's a great feeling knowing OEMs and their dealer networks are working like crazy to make the buying and vehicle ownership experience richer, truer and highly relevant for their customers.

As in past...

South America is a very diverse continent. Brazil, its main country, forbids diesel passenger cars and speaks Portuguese, but is surrounded by Spanish speaking countries. French Guiana still belongs to France, something not very common nowadays. Consumer behavior is also different: Toyota, for example, is the market leader in Peru and has a higher share in the countries closer to the Pacific Ocean, while customer loyalty in Brazil and Argentina goes toward brands from Europe and the United...

Many of you may be returning to work this week after an extended vacation around the holiday season. Welcome back! I'll keep this blog short and informative.

It's 2013 and the world didn't end last month as the Mayans (supposedly) predicted. Given this, we can officially remove Mayan prognosticators from the category of a legitimate forecasting entity. However, Polk has a few predictions. They go something like this: 

1. New auto sales for 2013 will jump 6.6 percent over last year. Our U.S....

As someone who works in the auto industry, knowing how long Amercians hold onto their car or truck gives me a sense of what future sales demand may look like--"demand" in terms of selling replacement parts and service as well as understanding factors that impact new vehicle sales. We're all looking for "demand signals," right?

Polk's research shows that as of the second quarter of 2012, the average number of months that both new and used vehicle owners hold onto their vehicles is climbing. Among...

There is a theory in professional baseball that if a team is strong "up the middle" (i.e., in the positions in the middle of the field from catcher through pitcher, second base and shortstop to center field), it will have a competitive advantage. If this theory also holds true for the U.S. automobile business, then Toyota should be in good shape. A look at the product portfolios in the midsize segments from the mainstream non-luxury makes shows Toyota is in a strong position.

Toyota offers seven...

One of the byproducts of the recent collapse of the automotive industry has been a renewed and some might say "zealous" focus on keeping customers loyal to the brand. There is nothing like a near-death experience that some car manufacturers experienced to shake up any complacency and force a reordering of priorities. And what has risen to the top of the list for almost all OEMs is the question of, "How do we do a better job of keeping our customers loyal – and what causes customers to be loyal...

In my last post, I discussed the importance of retaining young vehicle buyers. In this blog, I thought I would share some 2011 calendar year-end findings regarding owner loyalty and age.

The chart below shows the distribution of owners returning to market based on age.

Owners between the ages of 35-64 account for more than 70% of all return to market activity. Yet as seen in the graph below, less than 50% (46.6%) of these owners are loyal to their given brand.

It is clear from the graph above that...

An analysis of new vehicle buyers shows that their average age was 51 years old in 2011, three years older than buyers in 2007. In 2011, 40% of all buyers were aged 55 years or older, up from about 30% just four years earlier. And, in keeping with much commentary about today’s youth, in 2011, only 11% of all new vehicle buyers were aged 34 years or younger, down from almost 16% four years earlier. Perhaps today’s young people indeed do have less interest in cars or perhaps they don’t have the...

Common sense suggests that gaining a first time buyer provides the opportunity to create a customer for life. Yet analyzing repurchase behavior among the younger demographic set suggests that manufacturers and dealers alike are not doing enough to retain younger buyers when they return to market. Admittedly, younger buyers represent a small percentage of total repurchase activity, less than 1% for buyers 18-24 and 7.5% for buyers 25-34, but it’s not necessarily about the value these customers...

Engaging diverse markets has become an increasingly important initiative for the automotive industry. The contributions of these consumers have been widely documented by automotive analysts including my colleague, Marc Bland. In an effort to further quantify the value of diversity marketing, I thought I’d look back at 2011 from an ethnic loyalty perspective.

In 2011, 1,033,097 African-American, Asian and Hispanic new vehicle owners returned to market to buy a new vehicle. Of these owners, 47%...

Last month, I had the opportunity to speak at the Digital Market Strategies Conference, an event hosted by First Class Educators. If you are focused on the retail side of the automotive industry and haven’t attended an event hosted by First Class Educators, I highly recommend it. The staff, venue and speakers are top notch.

I co-presented during the afternoon keynote address with Matt Murray from Dealer.com. Our session focused on the impact of social media on initial vehicle purchase and...

Americans continue to hold on to their cars and trucks longer than ever before. Nearly six years (71 months) among new vehicle owners is the latest trend. New Polk consumer research shows the opportunities for professionals managing OEM aftersales and the automotive aftermarket operations should have a lot to look forward to given this trend. It's about parts and service business, folks.

Two years ago, I posted a blog on the same behavior and when we started to see a real incline in the average...

When was the last time you participated in an event that really made you think about a significant achievement? Not just obtaining a goal, more like transforming your organization's position in its playing field. Not just moving toward greater market share, but keeping your customers loyal once you've introduced them to your brand. Significant achievement is out there. I recognized it as I was fortunate enough to spend a few days at the Subaru of America National Training Conference in Atlanta,...

If you appreciate automotive marketing that blends mild humor while showcasing product performance, you'll enjoy this video from Hyundai.

The main point of their message? A rear-wheel drive Genesis can "drift" like no other car! Another clip featuring the same driver, Rhys Millen, shows him conquering Pike's Peak with the Red Bull Hyundai Genesis RM580 in order to demonstrate this similar feat on a treacherous stretch of mountain road.

So is the Hyundai brand "drifting" in a slow and steady...