Brand Loyalty Stops Losing Ground

Consumer loyalty to automotive brands was essentially flat last year, though one market analyst observed slight positive movement as General Motors and Tesla retained the most loyal customer bases.

S&P Global Mobility said it’s seen brand loyalty inch in the positive direction after pandemic-era erosion. The less than one percentage point positive gain last year made for three straight years without loyalty loss.

It measured brand loyalty at about 52% as consumer return-to-market volume rose 4% year-over-year.

To arrive at the numbers, S&P reviewed 13.1 million new U.S. retail vehicle registrations, isolating households that acquired vehicles of the same makes, models or manufacturers as they had before.

“While brand loyalty is still below prepandemic levels, we are starting to see a consistent trend of customers going back to the brands they are familiar with,” said President, Automotive Insights Joe LaFeir. 

“This will be important as we navigate a period of uncertainty in our industry assessing tariff and trade impacts on vehicle demand, making retention an even greater indicator of brand health.”

GM and Tesla repeated as the automakers with the most loyal customer bases, GM for overall loyalty to manufacturer for the 10^th straight year and Tesla for overall loyalty to make for the third year. Tesla also had the highest conquest percentage.

Meanwhile, Subaru won the overall loyalty to dealer award after losing that designation in 2023. Lincoln Corsair had the highest loyalty to model, and Land Rover earned the most improved make loyalty award. 

Here’s S&P Global Mobility’s full awards list:

*Denotes a repeat winner from the 2023 awards

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