$F is really cruising along now. I would watch for these loyalty score to continue to climb as the ’12 -’13 models roll out with new technological features that will lock in buyers to the brand (not to mention industry best gas mileage).
My how time flies! A year has passed and once again, we have honored excellence in owner loyalty during last night’s 16th annual Polk Automotive Loyalty Awards. The awards were presented as part of the Automotive News World Congress held in Detroit, MI on January 10th, 2012.
Ford ($F) dominated this year’s ceremony winning six of 16 awards, including the prestigious Overall Loyalty to Make and Overall Loyalty to Manufacturer awards. In addition to these honors, Ford also won model loyalty awards with the F-Series pickup, Ford Escape and Lincoln MKZ.
Ford was also recognized in the African-American Loyalty to Make category, which highlights the company’s ability to retain owners of African-American decent. Honda and Toyota received top honors in the Hispanic and Asian Loyalty to Make categories respectively.
Jeep’s loyalty improved 7.4 percentage points over last year, which is more than enough to win the Most Improved Loyalty to Make category. Jeep’s performance was largely driven by the success of the redesigned Grand Cherokee.
John Krafcik, Hyundai’s North American CEO, was the evening’s keynote speaker. He accepted the Polk Automotive Loyalty Award in the Compact Car segment for the Elantra. This is the first time Hyundai has been awarded a Polk Loyalty Award and it is the Elantra’s second major award in two days (it was named North American Car of the Year on Monday).
Across the U.S. auto industry, OEMs are placing greater emphasis on owner loyalty and their efforts are paying off as loyalty rates are steadily increasing. This year’s Polk Loyalty Awards recognized the best of the best. A complete list of winners can be found here.
