Resale value and vehicle quality have become increasingly important reasons for new-vehicle buyers to remain loyal to an automotive brand, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Customer Retention Study(SM) released today.
Now in its seventh year, the study measures the percentage of vehicle owners and lessees who replace a previously purchased new vehicle with another from the same brand. Retaining existing owners is critical to a brand's market success, particularly in the current challenging market conditions.
The study finds that the importance of resale value as a reason for owner loyalty has increased by 12 percentage points in 2009, compared with 2008. Meanwhile, the importance of vehicle quality has increased by 6 percentage points. In comparison, in 2008, the reasons with the largest increases in importance for staying loyal to a brand were safety, fuel economy and deals/incentives.
Resale value and quality have also increased in importance as reasons why brands conquest new customers from their competitors, as has the importance of appearance and styling.
"Although there are some signs of economic recovery, the outlook remains uncertain, so for many new-vehicle buyers, high resale value and quality are particularly important considerations that are driving purchase behavior," said Raffi Festekjian, director of automotive product research at J.D. Power and Associates. "Whether manufacturers are striving to increase loyalty or conquesting buyers from other brands, offering attractively styled models and having strong customer perceptions of resale value and quality are critical."
Mercedes-Benz ranks highest among automotive brands in retaining vehicle owners when they buy a new-vehicle, and improves their retention rate by eight percentage points from 2008 to 67 percent in 2009. Following in the rankings are Honda (64%) and Toyota (61%).
"Mercedes-Benz has steadily improved its customer retention rates during the past five years, and in 2009, has achieved the highest rate ever attained by a manufacturer since the inception of the study," said Festekjian. "In particular, customers cite the resale value and appearance and styling of Mercedes-Benz models as primary reasons to remain loyal to the brand."
Overall customer retention in 2009 has remained stable from 2008 at 48 percent. In 2009, 13 of the 36 ranked brands have improved in customer retention rates from 2008, while 20 have declined and three have remained stable. MINI and Porsche post the greatest improvements in customer retention rates from 2008, each improving by 14 percentage points in 2009. For MINI, this improvement is driven primarily by incentives and customer perceptions of resale value of the brand's models. For Porsche, the increase is due to resale value, fuel economy and quality.
The 2009 Customer Retention Study is based on responses from 128,939 new-vehicle buyers and lessees, of which 74,610 replaced a vehicle that was previously acquired new. The study was fielded between February and May 2009 and August and October 2009.
2009 Make Retention Rates
Mercedes-Benz 67%
Honda 64%
Toyota 61%
Lexus 57%
Subaru 57%
Ford 56%
Nissan 55%
Chevrolet 54%
BMW 52%
Porsche 52%
Industry Average 48%
Hyundai 47%
Audi 45%
Volkswagen 44%
Cadillac 43%
MINI 43%
Dodge 42%
Lincoln 39%
Acura 38%
GMC 38%
HUMMER 38%
Kia 37%
Jeep 34%
Mazda 31%
Scion 31%
Mercury 29%
Volvo 29%
Pontiac 28%
Chrysler 27%
Jaguar 26%
Buick 25%
Infiniti 25%
Land Rover 25%
Mitsubishi 25%
Saturn 25%
Suzuki 24%
SAAB 9%
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