Polk Announces Mid-Year Automotive Loyalty Leaders
18 July 2000
GM Regains Lead - Ford Division Remains Strong
DETROIT - The Polk Company released its mid-year consumer automotive loyalty rankings today, revealing that General Motors captured first place in the Overall Manufacturer Loyalty award category. According to Polk data, General Motors also took the lead in three model-level categories with Buick LeSabre winning in the Large Car category, Cadillac DeVille in the Luxury Car category, and Chevrolet Suburban in the SUV category. In addition, the Buick Century tied with Subaru Legacy in the Midsize Car category. This is a strong improvement for General Motors over the 1999 model year, when it won only 2 out of 11 awards. The rankings are a semi-annual update of The Polk Company's automotive loyalty information. The fifth annual Polk Automotive Loyalty Award winners are scheduled to be announced during the North American International Auto Show in January 2001."General Motors loyalty performance improved significantly since last year. But the improved performance didn't occur by chance," said Karen Piurkowski, Polk's Managing Director of Loyalty. "The strategy was well thought out by members within the GM marketing team. Improved performance was the result of their careful planning. In the struggle to maintain market share in today's fiercely competitive automotive marketplace, holding onto current owners is the right place to start."
Ford Division also had a strong showing during the first six months of the 2000 model year, leading in the Overall Make Loyalty category. In addition, the Ford Windstar was cited as the leader in the Minivan model category and the Ford F-Series led in the Pickup Truck model category. However, Ford Motor Company's other two divisions - Lincoln and Mercury - dropped from the first-place rankings in the Luxury Car and Large Car categories compared to last year.
Leaders through six months of the 2000 model year include:
Avg. INDUSTRY
Category Leader Loyalty % Loyalty %
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Overall Categories:
Manufacturer
Loyalty General Motors 66.6% 55.4%
Make Loyalty Ford Division/a 59.7% 44.1%
Model Categories:
Small Car Hyundai Elantra 21.3% 13.6%
Midsize Car Subaru Legacy/
Buick Century (tie)/a 33.1% 21.6%
Large Car Buick LeSabre 41.5% 28.1%
Luxury Car Cadillac DeVille 43.6% 21.4%
Prestige
Luxury Car Mercedes-Benz S Class 30.5% 17.8%
Sports Car Porsche Boxster 23.0% 10.5%
Minivan Ford Windstar 29.6% 18.4%
Pickup Truck Ford F-Series* 38.7% 28.1%
SUV Chevrolet Suburban 26.3% 19.4%
/a 1999 Polk Automotive Loyalty Award Winner.In addition to the superior loyalty performance by Ford and GM, several other manufacturers showed improvement during the first six months of the 1999 model year:
-- The Hyundai Elantra led in the Small Car segment. Hyundai
positioned this product positively in the eyes of
consumers by providing a bumper-to-bumper warranty on
parts & service for five years. Consumers perceived
Hyundai's confidence in their product so positively that
they returned to purchase another Elantra. Following
closely in second place, was the Volkswagen New Beetle.
The discontinued Ford Escort won this award in the
previous four model years.
-- The sporty Porsche Boxster and the luxurious Mercedes-Benz
S Class, both having high appeal among the Baby Boomer
population segment, took the lead in the Sports Car and
the Prestige Luxury Car categories respectively. Over
two-thirds of the purchases of these vehicles come from
Baby Boomers. As Baby Boomers age, they are looking for
unique ways to establish their "automotive identity".
These two luxurious and sporty niche vehicles help to do
that.
-- Subaru Legacy returned to tie for first place during the
first six months of the 2000 model year. Legacy led the
Midsize Car category in the 1996 model year. This sporty
"SUV-like" vehicle is popular among many niche population
segments.
The Polk 2000 model year rankings showed the greatest variety in leaders compared to previous years. In total, six manufacturers led in at least one of the 11 categories.
"Consumers want to be encouraged to be loyal by their manufacturer or dealer. Creating products that suit the needs of current owners, while providing superior customer treatment throughout the entire ownership experience, are key to creating loyal customers," said Piurkowski. "Those manufacturers that are tuned-in to the needs of their owners, are more likely to have high customer loyalty rates, and in-turn, high profitability".
The source of this information is Polk's Manufacturer Loyalty Excelerator(TM) study, which provides the latest insight into this type of consumer behavior. This study was introduced to the automotive industry in 1995 and was created to provide household loyalty information to manufacturers at many different levels. It is used to determine the Polk Automotive Loyalty Awards; to provide loyalty percentages for the entire automotive industry; to allow for cross-industry comparisons of loyalty behavior; and to examine loyalty at various levels - e.g. from the industry level down to the vehicle line level. The study measures loyalty throughout the entire model year so that manufacturers may keep abreast of loyalty trends as they occur in the industry.
Polk has served the automotive industry for 78 years and is the longest standing curator of automobile records in the United States. Founded in Detroit in 1870, Polk launched its motor vehicle statistical operations in 1922 when the first car registration reports were published. It now provides multi-dimensional intelligence information solutions to nearly every segment of the motor vehicle industry as an analytical consultant and statistician; as a provider of database-marketing services; as a supplier of vehicle histories; and as a data enabler for geographic information systems. Based in Southfield, Mich., Polk is a privately held global firm, currently operating in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Holland, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
For more information about Polk's Manufacturer Loyalty Excelerator findings, contact Justine Carroll at 212/896-1227.
