Ford owns Automotive Loyalty Awards, Audi and Subaru are king of conquests

Thu, 23 Jan 2014

Customers are a commodity in the automotive industry, and like any other commodity, automakers trade them back and forth. Only nobody wants to give up their customers – just to keep the ones they have and try to attract others.

That's what the Polk Automotive Loyalty Awards are all about. Every year the industry research body names the automakers, brands and models that manage to keep their customers coming back for more – and attract buyers to switch from other makes. Ford usually does pretty well, but this year it rose above even its own track record.

Not only did Dearborn win the Overall Loyalty to Manufacturer award, but also the Overall Loyalty to Make. Ford also took the African American category, and the F-150 was named the top full-size half-ton pickup in customer loyalty. Ford COO Mark Fields (pictured above) accepted the awards and gave the keynote address at the awards ceremony.

Still, it wasn't all about Ford: Toyota dominated the Hispanic and Asian markets, Subaru was recognized as the Most Improved Conquest Percent of Registrations (meaning that it raised the number of new buyers it attracted more than any other automaker) and Audi for the Highest Conquest Percent of Registrations (meaning that it attracted more new customers than any other brand). See the full breakdown in the press release below.

Polk Automotive Loyalty Award Winners

Presented by IHS Automotive, the Polk Automotive Loyalty Awards are based on actual model year purchase/lease activity and recognizes manufacturers for superior performance in owner retention – a critical aspect of building and maintaining market share. Owners had such a positive overall experience that they came back to buy another vehicle of the same model, make, or manufacturer. The Polk Automotive Loyalty Awards are the only fact-based awards in the industry based on owner loyalty. Awards are based on actual consumer transactions to determine the winners and information obtained from state registration and lease transaction information.

During the 2013 Model Year, over 25 new vehicles were launched, more than 115 vehicle platforms were refreshed or redesigned and over 7.4 million* households came back into the market to purchase a new vehicle. Find out which OEMs were best able to retain their customer base and which were best able to conquest from their competitors.

We are excited to announce this year's event will have a new format and a couple of new awards.

*Number of returning households is based on the Polk household loyalty methodology and assumes one household per return to market.

2013 Model Year Loyalty Award Winners

Award Category	Award Winners
Overall Loyalty to Manufacturer	Ford Motor Company*
Overall Loyalty to Make	Ford*
Most Improved Loyalty to Make	Cadillac
African American Market Loyalty to Make	Ford*
Asian Market Loyalty to Make	Toyota*
Hispanic Market Loyalty to Make	Toyota
Highest Conquest Percent of Registrations	Audi
Most Improved Conquest Percent of Registrations	Subaru
Non-Luxury Traditional Compact Car	Toyota Prius
Non-Luxury Traditional Mid-Size Car	Honda Accord
Non-Luxury Compact CUV	Honda CR-V*
Non-Luxury Full-Size Half-Ton Pickup	Ford F-150*
Non-Luxury Mid-Size CUV	Kia Sorento
Non-Luxury Mid-Size SUV	Jeep Grand Cherokee
Non-Luxury Traditional Sub-Compact Car	Fiat 500
Non-Luxury Mid-Size Van	Chrysler Town & Country*
Non-Luxury Traditional Full-Size Car	Toyota Avalon
Luxury Mid-Size CUV	Lexus RX*
Non-Luxury Mid-Size Pickup	Toyota Tacoma
Non-Luxury Sport Mid-Size Car	Dodge Challenger
Luxury Traditional Compact Car	Mercedes-Benz C-Class
Luxury Traditional Mid-Size Car	Mercedes-Benz E-Class
Non-Luxury Full-Size SUV	Toyota Land Cruiser
Luxury Compact CUV	Acura RDX
Non-Luxury Sport Car	Hyundai Veloster
Non-Luxury Compact SUV	Jeep Wrangler
Luxury Sport Car	Mercedes-Benz SL-Class*
Luxury Full-Size SUV	Land Rover Range Rover*
Luxury Traditional Full-Size Car	Lexus LS
Luxury Traditional Sub-Compact Car	Lexus CT200H
Luxury Mid-Size SUV	Mercedes-Benz G-Class
Luxury Exotic Car	McLaren MP4
Luxury Prestige Full-Size Car	Rolls-Royce Phantom

*Winner from previous model year award

By Noah Joseph