Recently, J.D. Power, a world-renowned research organization, released the results of the 2022 study of American automobile brand loyalty. The survey shows that brand loyalty of new car consumers is on the rise, driven by the current shortage of car supply.
This year, J.D. Power divided its research into five subcategories for the first time, including luxury cars, luxury SUV, mainstream cars, mainstream SUV and trucks. Based on the data of car transactions in the United States between September 2021 and August 2022, the study investigated whether car owners would choose vehicles from previously purchased brands when replacing their cars. The score of brand loyalty is based on the percentage of owners who choose the same brand again when they buy a new car.
German and Japanese automobile brands lead in consumer loyalty
Among the five market segments mentioned above, foreign car brands have the highest consumer loyalty.
Among them$Toyota Motor (TM.US)$The Toyota brand took the lead in mainstream cars and mainstream SUV with a turnaround rate of 62.2% and 63.6%, respectively. In the mainstream SUV field, both Japanese brands$SUBARU CORP Unsponsored ADR (FUJHY.US)$Subaru followed with a turnaround rate of 62.6%; in the mainstream car sector, South Korean brand Kia ranked second with a customer turnaround rate of 54.1%, and there is still a big gap with Toyota.
Japanese brands dominate the mainstream car market, while German brands take the lead in the luxury market. In the field of luxury cars$PORSCHE AUTO HL SE (POAHY.US)$Porsche tops the list with 57.4% loyalty, while in the luxury SUV field, both German brands$BAYER MOTOREN WERK (BMWYY.US)$BMW reached the top with a turnaround rate of 58.6%.
$Ford Motor (F.US)$Ford is the only American car brand that has a place in J.D. Power's research. In the truck sector, the Ford brand has the highest consumer turnaround rate of 63.8%.
Consumer loyalty to car brands is on the rise.
In 2022, J.D. Power American automobile brand loyalty research has been redesigned and divided into five sub-areas, so it can not be compared with the previous research. But overall, the consumer loyalty of top car brands has increased significantly.
In mainstream cars, Toyota's score is up 1.1 percent from a year ago, while brand loyalty in mainstream SUV is even more pronounced, up 2.5 percent from the average in the mainstream market in 2021.
Subaru, which won the crown of the mainstream car market last year, has been beaten by Toyota this year, but its brand loyalty is also on the rise, with the brand's turnaround rate up 0.8 percent in the mainstream SUV sector.
The increase of luxury brands is even more prominent. Porsche's brand loyalty increased by 7.2 percent, and BMW's brand loyalty even increased by 13 percent. Compared with the average level of the mainstream car market in 2021, the turnaround rate of the Ford brand has increased by 9.9 percentage points.
Supply chain problem is one of the reasons for the increase of Brand loyalty
J.D. Power said in a statement that the increase in the turnaround rate of most brands can be attributed to a shortage of new cars.
Tyson Jominy, vice president of data and analysis at J.D. Power, said: "tight supply chains and subnormal car production can cause considerable damage to consumer loyalty, but the highest ranked brands do well by focusing on retaining users."
Jominy also said that the shortage of new cars is only one of many factors. The rise of electric cars may also change consumer loyalty to car brands. "for those car brands that are standing still or not moving fast enough, they may lose more customers," he said.