REPORT: Toyota tops in customer retention
The J.D. Power people compiled their annual list of automaker customer retention rates, and Toyota came out on top, followed closely behind by General Motors. Almost 69-percent of Toyota owners continued their relationship with the manufacturer, compared to GM whose owners returned to the automaker's brands about 65-percent of the time. Honda came in third, with 63.3-percent, while BMW and Ford following closely behind at 56.9-percent and 54.4-percent respectively.It deserves note, however, that Toyota, GM, Honda, BMW and Ford all benefit from having a number of companies under their corporate umbrella. The way J.D. Power comes to its conclusions is to include each automaker's individual brands within the parent company. So Scion owners are likely to upgrade to a Toyota, Chevy owners might buy a Buick, and MINI buyers might take a step up into the newest 3-series – all of which skews the figures in favor of larger manufacturers.
However, lacking a large brand portfolio is hardly an excuse for Isuzu, who only came away from the survey with a 1.6-percent retention rate.
[Source: J.D. Power and Associates via CNNMoney]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
VP 4:46PM (12/07/2007)
Even with all the brands under one portfolio, those are some pretty good numbers and the automakers themselves won't mind cosumers staying within their corporation.
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wrussi 5:02PM (12/08/2007)
haha who buys an isuzu?
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Bryan 10:45PM (12/08/2007)
Don't forget, Isuzu does a good chunk of Commercial Business. Ie. The NPR. When I sold Ford, we also had Isuzu box trucks and sold quite a few....
Gunner 4:51PM (12/07/2007)
Toyota...........they make the best vibrator's on wheels. It's good to see that so many people continue to go back for more.
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ambientFLIER 9:16PM (12/07/2007)
That made no sense. Also, you (and 90% of others) have no idea how to use correct punctuation.
psarhjinian 5:01PM (12/07/2007)
Why wouldn't you count interbrand retention? I could see the value in breaking out Cadillac, Lexus, Saab or Volvo from their respective parents, but there's so little difference between Chev/Pontiac/Buick/GMC/Saturn and Ford/Lincoln/Mercury (or Honda/Acura) for that matter that there may as well be no difference at all.
Heck, GM and Ford would be healthier companies if they cut down on intracompany competition.
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tankd0g 5:44PM (12/07/2007)
Toyota dealers are not Lexus dealers, GMC are not Pontiac dealers. It would be nice to know which of the sub brands are the best or worst to go with.
CH 5:50PM (12/07/2007)
There are often big differences between brands of the same company, for example:
Toyota 65%, Scion 31%
Chevrolet 57%, Pontiac 28%
Honda 63%, Acura 41%
Brand results are listed on the last page here:
http://www.jdpower.com/corporate/news/releases/pdf/2007292.pdf
Reality Check 8:20PM (12/07/2007)
I guess you don't understand the trade up mentality that GM has had with all of its brands for the past 80 years. Start at Chevy and Die in a CTS...... It worked very well when their cars were different and it looks like it will work again now that they are offering a new range of cars people will want..... It is really the only way that 3 automaker can maintain market share with 27 auto builders...
taipeileviathan 5:05PM (12/07/2007)
not just scion owners to toyota, but toyota owners to lexus as well... 3 tiers...
although i'm somewhat surprised VW group is so low on the list. despite how unreliable a lot of their cars were/are, many of the VW/Audi owners i've met are pretty fiercely loyal to that particular sense of teutonic self-identification that comes with owning a VW/Audi, such that we keep going back for more... altho i have to say, the B5 passat i had and B6 s4 cab i'm driving now have been nothing but perfect for me [knocking on wood].
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RDL 5:16PM (12/07/2007)
taipeileviathan:
"not just scion owners to toyota, but toyota owners to lexus as well... 3 tiers..."
But isn't each tier reserved for a very specific segment?
Scion -> "Hip" young ricers.
Lexus -> Lame-ass yuppies or similar with more cash than brains.
Toyota -> For people who like to drive sleep-inducing vehicles.
(I kiiid, I kiiid... ;)
Rick 7:13PM (12/07/2007)
As a former VW owner, I was loyal until the 4th time during the 4th year (1st year without warranty) that I had to take the Jetta in for a $400 repair. I love thier cars, their interiors, materials, build, etc. But damn it if I can't justify paying for a car that is so expensive to fix and so unreliable that I am in the shop every quarter for repair.
simianspeedster 5:38PM (12/07/2007)
VW has lost people like me who love the design of their products and their perceived quality (e.g. look and feel of the materials), but can't stand the rattles, squeaks, part failures, parts shortages/delays, high service and parts costs, crappy/indifferent dealer service, etc.
Between my wife and I, we've had 6 VWs and 3 Audis. We were die-hards for a long time. The Audis have generally been better with one giant exception -- our first generation TT was a rolling warranty repair.
Our last VW was sold a few years back. When my wife's Audi lease ends, she's more interested in other brands for the first time in a long while. There will certainly be no more VWs for us and maybe no more Audis either.
-SimianSpeedster
AlexP 5:18PM (12/07/2007)
Having such a large portfolio and reputation the precedes it, I'm surprised GM did this well. 69% for Toyota is, well, it's the industry's high, but it's low when you consider that GM is only 5% behind and when you consider that they don't have as many brands to take care of.
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PassingAlong 5:31PM (12/07/2007)
Nissan two places BEHIND Hyundai. Interesting.
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Geoff Gibson 5:31PM (12/07/2007)
"However, lacking a large brand portfolio is hardly an excuse for Isuzu, who only came away from the survey with a 1.6-percent retention rate."
Doesn't Suzuki make the XL-7?
I swear it is. Hell, I think Isuzu is basically a GM company anyways now. Although, I could be wrong. I don't keep tabs on that car company.
In anycase, Suzuki makes some nice entry-model cars. Good to see they are finally getting their style back too, although it appears to be an uphill battle still.
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Geoff Gibson 5:33PM (12/07/2007)
Oh wow, they already corrected that link in between the time my Reader showed the blog and I came to the website to make a comment.
This was what I was referring to:
"After driving the XL-7, we understand why."
It was the last sentence of the blog beforehand.
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mk 5:56PM (12/07/2007)
Subaru is sixth, with a hair over 50%.
Not bad for a little tiny company with only four distinct models, and less than 250k units sold per year.
Subaru has no other brands, not even any cooperation, now that Saab's 92x is expired.
BMW has several brands including Mini and Rolls (very few units, but probably very loyal customers), Honda has Acura and sells far more Accords than Subaru sells cars period. GM, Ford, and Toyota are all multi-branded.
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TEST 6:38PM (12/07/2007)
TEST
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JGN 7:00PM (12/07/2007)
I'm on my second Tacoma, and will definitely buy a third. When it comes to looking for my next truck, I will still do all of the legwork and try every truck in the segment. The Nissan Frontier seems to be the main competition right now. If GMC happens to be building the best truck at that time, I'll switch to GM, unfortunately, they missed the boat with the Canyon and Colorado this time around.
At some point though, having had a Toyota for nearly 10 years now, I've started thinking in terms of 'my next toyota' because I am so used to the brand and how they are built and laid out.
GM, Ford, and Chrysler really need to make a concerted effort to start producing one amazing vehicle per segment so that they can begin building loyalty again.
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