New analysis from IHS Markit on consumer loyalty to vehicle brands in Germany suggests some unique findings on a variety of levels, including an overall industry loyalty rate of 66.7 percent.
Loyalty rates are determined when a consumer returns to market for a new vehicle and acquires a new one – either via lease or purchase – of the same brand. The research findings from business information provider IHS Markit track vehicle transactions that occurred between August 2016 and July 2017. The analysis demonstrates a wide variety of viewpoints from consumers across leading global markets.
Among volume brands, the Ford brand achieved top loyalty in Germany, with 73.5 percent of consumers returning to market for another Ford brand vehicle. Second was smart, with 72.6 percent loyalty, followed by Volkswagen at 72.1 percent loyalty.
Among premium brands, Mercedes customers are most loyal, with 84.1 percent of new Mercedes owners returning to market and acquiring a new Mercedes vehicle during the 12-month timeframe. BMW and Audi rounded out the top-three luxury/premium brands, with 70.7 percent loyalty for BMW and 62.9 percent for Audi.
“We are excited to bring this unique new analysis to customers in the German automotive market,” said Steve Had, vice president – sales and marketing solutions, IHS Markit. “This effort highlights the ongoing successes of automakers and brands that continue to win back customers in this hyper-competitive environment and paves the way for manufacturers to engage in more targeted and efficient marketing efforts based on this insight.”
The IHS Markit analysis also considered brands with the most improved loyalty over a previous timeframe. For volume brands, loyalty improvements were more significant – with SEAT achieving a 15.5 percentage point year-over-year improvement, followed by Lada, with an improvement of 7 percentage points and Suzuki with a 6.4 percentage point improvement.
For the premium brands, Jaguar improved its loyalty 2.6 percentage points over the previous 12-month timeframe, according to IHS Markit, followed by Volvo with an improvement of 2.2 percentage points. Mercedes improved 1 percentage point over the timeframe.
About the loyalty methodology
The findings are based on an assessment of nearly 340,000 household transactions in which consumers purchased or leased a new vehicle and disposed of an old one from the same brand in the past 12 months (from August 2016 to July 2017).
This unique new solution for the market was co-developed by IHS Markit, a leader in automotive loyalty measurement and reporting in the U.S., in close collaboration with Dataforce, the leading market research firm in the German fleet market. It is the first available research of its kind for the German market and seeks to provide automotive manufacturers the ability to utilize return to market activity, loyalty and conquest rates to create targets, track key performance indicators, and to develop targeted marketing campaigns to help move their business forward.
To learn more, visit ihsmarkit.com.
