RL Polk Says Consumers More Loyal to Asian Automotive Brands

According to R. L. Polk & Co., regardless of age, automotive consumers are being consistently more loyal to Asian automotive brands–much more than European and domestic makes. Not only that, for all automotive brands, R. L. Polk & Co. says that owner loyalty increases as the head of household gets older.

According to a press release issued today, R. L. Polk & Co. says that “or the 2006 model year, overall make loyalty for the industry is 44.4 percent. While domestic makes are close to the industry average with 43.5 percent, for Asian makes, it is 47.6 percent and European brands stand at 37.3 percent.” Take a look at the following table:

Loyalty to Manufacturer Origin Groups by Age – 2006 Model Year

Age of Head of Percentage of Returning Owners Loyal to …
Household Asian Makes Domestic Makes European Makes
18 – 24 43.0 39.5 32.2
25 – 34 41.6 39.8 30.3
35 – 44 43.9 40.7 33.6
45 – 54 47.7 43.0 37.9
55 – 64 50.8 45.6 41.1
65 – 74 55.1 47.4 42.5
75+ 59.8 51.1 46.4
Overall Make Loyalty 47.6 43.5 37.3

Source: R. L. Polk & Co. Manufacturer Loyalty Excelerator(TM) 2006 Model Year. 2006 Model year includes new vehicle owners returning for another new vehicle between 10/05 and 9/06.
R. L. Polk & Co. goes on to say that for “the 2006 model year, more than 6.5 million new vehicle owning households in the U.S. were examined for their loyalty, conquest and defection buying behaviors. For more than ten years, Polk has based its loyalty insights from its Manufacturer Loyalty Excelerator(TM) programs, combining registration, demographic and opinion data, representing an industry standard.”

About R. L. Polk & Co.
R. L. Polk & Co. is the premier provider of automotive information and marketing solutions. Polk collects and interprets global data, and provides extensive automotive business expertise to help customers understand their market position, identify trends, build brand loyalty, conquest new business and gain a competitive advantage. Polk helps automotive manufacturers and dealers, automotive aftermarket companies, finance and insurance companies, advertising agencies, media companies, consulting organizations, government agencies and market research firms make good business decisions. A privately held global firm, Polk is based in Southfield, Mich. with operations in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. For more information, please visit www.polk.com.