Toyota, Ford among brands with top consumer loyalty, US study says

J.D. Power, a US-based consumer research and analytics firm, released the results of its 2022 Automotive Brand Loyalty Study with Toyota among the highest ranking car brands in terms of consumer loyalty rate.  

The Toyota Corolla for the US market

The 2022 J.D. Power US Automotive Brand Loyalty Study has expanded the study’s segment categories to gain more insights among consumers. J.D. Power introduced the five categories for the said study that include the following: mass market car, mass market SUV, truck (pickup truck), premium car, and premium SUV.    

Based on the study conducted by J.D. Power, Toyota ranked the highest in mass market car category. The Japanese car brand posted a 62.2 percent loyalty rate. Getting the runner-up position for the said category is Kia with 54.1 percent.

Toyota also has a high rate of loyalty for the mass market SUV category

Toyota has also ranked the highest in the mass market SUV category as it yielded a loyalty rate of 63.6 percent. Fellow Japanese marque Subaru follows at second with a 62.6 percent loyalty rate. Toyota’s and Subaru’s loyalty rate under the SUV category is almost close, showing a tight battle between the two automakers.  

Ford customers showed their force as the Blue Oval brand scored the highest when it comes to the truck category. Ford claimed the highest ranking with a 63.8 percent loyalty rate. Coming in second is Toyota with 58.7 percent.  

As for the premium car category, Porsche attained the highest brand loyalty at a rate of 57.4 percent. Genesis meanwhile ranks second at 54.6 percent.  

Porsche consumers are also likely to stick to the same brand

In the premium SUV category, BMW owners are also pretty loyal to their brand. This is because the study found that it has a loyalty rate of 58.6 percent. Lexus then follows the German marque at 56.4 percent in the same category.

J.D. Power came up with the results of this study via its Power Information Network. The said system collated transaction data from US-based car brands from September 2021 to August 2022.

The loyalty rates shown above are calculated from the number of existing car owners who have either bought a new car that belongs to the same brand they have been using prior. Of course, trade-ins were also taken into consideration.  

The F-150 for the US market

With regards to why this study is important, Tyson Jominy, the J.D. Power vice president of data and analytics said that the brands with high loyalty rates “excelled by staying focused on keeping owners in the brand.”

Jominy further said that the said car brands managed to keep loyal customers by continuously rolling out fresh new models and appealing products, providing “excellent processes focused on the vehicle owner”, among others.  

J.D. Power added the recent supply chain issues that have plagued the car industry could have affected brand loyalty.

BMW consumers are quite a loyal bunch as well

If a brand just is just “sitting on the sidelines or not moving quickly enough”, then brand loyalty might be at risk. This is especially true in the continuing emergence of electric vehicles where the status quo of the automotive market will move at a rapid pace. In this case, loyalties to a brand in a fast-changing market may also be shaken up as well.  

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