Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) gained the number one position in corporate loyalty for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2011, according to the latest report of Experian Automotive, an information services company providing analytical tools for companies worldwide.
According to the report published by Experian Automotive, Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) surpassed the corporate loyalty score of its rivals General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) and Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM) during the fourth quarter of 2012.
During the quarter, 47.9 percent of customers who owned vehicles manufactured by Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) purchased another Ford or Lincoln vehicles.
The corporate loyalty score of General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) is very close at 47.7 percent while Toyota Motors Corporation landed the third place with 46.7 percent.
Jeffrey Anderson, director of consulting and analytics for Experian Automotive said, “Customer loyalty will always be a very important barometer of automotive sales success. Ford has developed extremely loyal customers across a wide range of vehicles. That consistency across its product line has helped vault Ford’s loyalty rankings past its rivals in our latest study.”
The study also found that Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) dominated the loyalty brand with 47.1 percent of its customers repurchased another Ford vehicle. Mercedez Benz took the second position with 43.7 percent.
The firm noted that Mercedez Benz’s brand loyalty score improved significantly from ninth place with 34.6 percent during the previous quarter. Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM)’s brand loyalty ranked third with 42.9 percent.
In terms of brand loyalty by model, Ford dominated with a record of eight of the top ten vehicles listed including Fusion (60%), Flex (58%), Edge (57.1%), Ford 500 (53.3%) Fiesta (53.3%), Escape (52.8%), Focus (52.1%), and Taurus (49.3%). Kia Forte (55.6 %) and C hevrolet sonic (52.4%) were the only two vehicles included in the list.
According to the study, the average length of vehicle ownership declined from 68.1 months to 66.2 months. During the period, hybrid vehicles account 1.03 percent of all vehicles in operation (VIO), the first time in history that hybrids exceeded 1 percent of VIO.
The study also found that import operations reached a record high at 41 percent during the fourth quarter last year, and Cadillac recorded the highest increase in brand loyalty from 25 percent to 30 percent. Luxury brands represent five of the top 10 gainers in brand loyalty.
