R L Polk & Co., the automotive industry’s premier provider of consumer loyalty information among new vehicles, presented the 12th Annual Polk Automotive Loyalty Awards yesterday evening at the 2008 Automotive News World Congress with General Motors and Toyota once again taking the top awards.
Winning the Overall Manufacturer award by demonstrating the greatest ability to retain previous customers for a record eighth consecutive year was General Motors. GM also secured six additional awards including honors for its Chevrolet Suburban, Silverado, Impala, Saturn ION, Pontiac Solstice and the Cadillac Escalade for the 2007 model year, which ended Sept. 30.
“Being able to retain your customers over time with great products and after-the-sale service has always been a key factor to attaining success. GM and Toyota have proven that they know what it takes to keep customers coming back to their brands,” said Stephen R. Polk, chairman, president and CEO of R. L. Polk & Co. “GM won a total of seven awards, including three vehicles that have won for the first time, which is a great testament to their overall manufacturer loyalty.”
Toyota was also a big winner, taking repeat honors in the Overall Make category award for posting the highest make loyalty to an automotive division. It was also recognized with five segment loyalty awards. Toyota Prius repeated as the Midsize Car segment winner and Toyota Tacoma repeated as the Compact Pickup segment winner. Lexus, the luxury division of Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc., was a repeat winner in the Midsize SUV segment for its Lexus RX, marking the third consecutive win. The Lexus ES was a first time winner in the Luxury Car segment and Lexus LS was a five time winner in the Prestige Luxury Car segment.
Overall for the industry, make loyalty for the 2007 model year was 44.84 percent. Recent studies by Polk show consumers are consistently more loyal to Asian brands (47.98 percent), versus European (38.13 percent) and domestic makes (43.74 percent).
Other vehicles capturing loyalty honors were the Chrysler Town & Country in the Minivan category, Honda CR-V in the Compact SUV category and the Jaguar XK in the Prestige Sports Car category.
Polk Manufacturer Loyalty Excelerator™ Report
Polk’s Manufacturer Loyalty Excelerator™ Report, which is the basis for the Polk Automotive Loyalty rankings and annual awards, is the latest insight into consumer loyalty. This report was introduced to the automotive industry in 1995 and was created to provide household loyalty information to manufacturers at many different levels. It is now used to provide loyalty percentages for the entire automotive industry and allows for cross-industry comparisons of loyalty behavior. The report measures loyalty throughout the entire model year so that manufacturers may keep abreast of loyalty trends as they occur in the industry.
The Polk Automotive Loyalty Awards recognize manufacturers for superior owner loyalty performance. Loyalty is determined when a household that owns a new vehicle returns to market and purchases or leases another new vehicle of the same model or make.
