DETROIT--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Business information provider IHS Markit (NASDAQ: INFO) presented the 21st annual Automotive Loyalty Awards tonight during Automotive News World Congress. Winners in more than 30 categories were recognized, including General Motors for the evening’s top award, “Overall Loyalty to Manufacturer” and Ford brand for “Overall Loyalty to Make.” Automotive News World Congress is held alongside press and industry days for the North American International Auto Show.
The Automotive Loyalty Awards from IHS Markit are the industry’s only fact-based awards of their kind. Automotive manufacturers and brands were recognized for superior customer retention and conquest efforts during the 2016 model year (October 2015 through September 2016). IHS Markit analysis found that, with 17.5 million new vehicle registrations during the 2016 model year, 52.8 percent of customers returned to market to purchase another vehicle from the same make they already owned. This represents a record loyalty rate and an increase of 1.3 percentage points from last year.
”We are proud to recognize so many loyalty leaders in the automotive industry,” said Joe LaFeir, senior vice president, automotive, for IHS Markit. “Our Automotive Loyalty Awards program highlights the ongoing successes of automakers and brands that continue to win back customers in this hyper-competitive environment. We commend those that are working to improve their efforts in this area.”
With the plateauing of the U.S. new vehicle market, there is an increase in the level of competition among automakers and brands. At the same time, loyalty rates to these manufacturers and brands are at all-time highs while incentive spending is also at record highs, with loyal customers receiving increased customer cash to repurchase -- up 1 percentage point of the vehicle transaction price since 2014.
IHS Markit has developed new tools to help automakers and marketers improve the efficiency of owner retention. Advanced analytics from IHS Markit now provide unprecedented insights into consumer loyalty behavior. When advising marketing leaders from across the industry, IHS Markit can now identify three distinct customer types -- super loyalist, loyalist and nomads. Super Loyalists are consumers who have a history of multiple repeat purchases and are the most likely to repurchase from the same manufacturer. Loyalists are consumers with a repeat purchase, and Nomads show no identifiable loyalty patterns to any manufacturer.
“Insights from these three populations now help manufacturers be more targeted and efficient with marketing efforts, and more informed when making critical marketing decisions, including incentive spending,” said Steve Had, vice president, sales and marketing solutions, IHS Markit.
Of the three populations, Super Loyalists are the smallest in size but tend to be the most loyal, repurchasing with the same manufacturer 76 percent of the time. Nomads, on the other hand, tend to be the largest in population size, but only stay loyal 52 percent of the time.
Brand and Model Level Winners Honored for Segment and Ethnic Loyalty
Ford achieved the highest loyalty rate of all makes during the 2016 model year, winning the Overall Loyalty to Make award. The award for Highest Conquest Percentage for the 2016 model year went to Jeep.
The Ford (brand) was honored for highest Ethnic Loyalty to Make among all ethnic groups combined, while it also led in loyalty among African-American consumers. Toyota was awarded for loyalty success with Hispanic consumers, while Mercedes-Benz achieved highest loyalty among Asian consumers.
Tesla was honored for Most Improved Loyalty to Make for the model year, and Most Improved Super Loyalists went to Cadillac, and Volvo was recognized for Most Improved Conquest Percentage during the 2016 model year.
IHS Markit also recognized 24 segment-level winners for the 2016 model year for their efforts to bring customers back for another vehicle of the same make and model.
A complete list of winners from the program is as follows:
| 2016 Model Year Automotive Loyalty Award Winners | |||
| Manufacturer and Make Loyalty Awards | Winner | ||
| Overall Loyalty to Manufacturer | GENERAL MOTORS | ||
| Overall Loyalty to Make | FORD | ||
| Most Improved Loyalty to Make | TESLA | ||
| Highest Conquest Percentage | JEEP | ||
| Most Improved Conquest Percentage | VOLVO | ||
| Most Improved Super Loyalists | CADILLAC | ||
| Ethnic Market Loyalty to Make | FORD | ||
|
African-American Market Loyalty to Make |
FORD | ||
| Asian Market Loyalty to Make | MERCEDES-BENZ | ||
| Hispanic Market Loyalty to Make | TOYOTA | ||
| Segment Model Loyalty Awards | Winner | ||
| Luxury Compact CUV | ACURA RDX | ||
| Luxury Full-Size SUV | MERCEDES-BENZ GLS | ||
| Luxury Mid-Size CUV | LINCOLN MKX | ||
| Luxury Mid-Size SUV | MERCEDES-BENZ G-CLASS | ||
| Luxury Sport Car | PORSCHE 911 | ||
| Luxury Traditional Compact Car | LINCOLN MKZ | ||
| Luxury Traditional Full-Size Car | MERCEDES-BENZ S-CLASS | ||
| Luxury Traditional Mid-Size Car | LEXUS ES | ||
| Luxury Traditional Sub-Compact Car | ACURA ILX | ||
| Non-Luxury Compact CUV | NISSAN ROGUE | ||
| Non-Luxury Compact SUV | JEEP WRANGLER | ||
| Non-Luxury Full-Size Three-Quarter To One-Ton Pickup | FORD F-SERIES | ||
| Non-Luxury Full-Size Half-Ton Pickup | RAM 1500 | ||
| Non-Luxury Full-Size SUV | GMC YUKON DENALI XL | ||
| Non-Luxury Mid-Size CUV | SUBARU OUTBACK | ||
| Non-Luxury Mid-Size Pickup | TOYOTA TACOMA | ||
| Non-Luxury Mid-Size SUV | JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE | ||
| Non-Luxury Mid-Size Van | CHRYSLER TOWN & COUNTRY | ||
| Non-Luxury Sport Car | VOLKSWAGEN GTI | ||
| Non-Luxury Sport Mid-Size Car | DODGE CHALLENGER | ||
| Non-Luxury Traditional Compact Car | CHEVROLET VOLT | ||
| Non-Luxury Traditional Full-Size Car | NISSAN MAXIMA | ||
| Non-Luxury Traditional Mid-Size Car | HONDA ACCORD | ||
| Non-Luxury Traditional Sub-Compact Car | SMART FORTWO | ||
About IHS Markit (www.ihsmarkit.com)
IHS Markit (NASDAQ: INFO) is the automotive industry’s leading source for market-wide insight, expertise and advanced planning solutions. With a reputation of enabling better decisions and better results for nearly a century, the world’s leading OEMs, suppliers and their transportation partners rely on IHS Markit to power growth, improve efficiency and drive a sustainable competitive advantage.
Automotive offerings and expertise at IHS Markit span every major market and, the entire automotive value chain -- from product planning to marketing, sales and the aftermarket. Headquartered in London, our automotive team is part of IHS Markit’s information and analytics powerhouse that includes more than 15,000 colleagues in 150 countries, covering energy, chemical, aerospace and defense, maritime, financial, technology, media and telecommunications. For additional information, please visit www.ihsmarkit.com or email automotive@ihsmarkit.com.
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