Millennials score highest on vehicle ‘Customer Love Index’

Would it surprise you to find out that members of the Generation Y cohort may actually “love” their vehicles, on average, more than other generations?

That was the finding of Strategic Vision’s research on the subject, which they began after identifying “love” as the “holy grail of the customer experience.”

This led to the creation of its “Customer Love Index,” or CLI, to determine which vehicles are most loved by their owners.

According to the company’s quantitative New Vehicle Experience Study, which surveyed feedback from over 44,000 new-vehicle owners, the average CLI score came out to about 400. Millennials came in at 470.

They also found that these millennials are much more likely to purchase mass-market vehicles that weren’t necessarily designed to be “loved,” while also “loving” them just as much, or more, than other generations love more expensive vehicles.

According to Strategic Vision, though, this is nothing new, and shouldn’t be viewed as something millennial-specific —  more often than not, the younger generations have tended to be more enthusiastic about such things.

“As new younger buyers enter any market they essentially crush hard on their choices, believing that their first love will always be their only,” said Christopher Chaney, senior vice president of Strategic Vision. “Of course, this isn’t new to millennials. Every generation in their youth can remember their first love and the deep emotional impact it had on their lives, and future decisions in life.”

Looking at the overall results, the Porsche Macan scored the highest on the CLI rankings, coming in at a score of 629, one of only two vehicles to score over 600 (the other being the Chevrolet Corvette convertible).

Which segment had the least love? While it was a vehicle in the minivan category that scored the lowest overall when separated by segment-leaders, Strategic Vision pointed out that, overall, minivans obtained higher CLI scores than most of the hybrid vehicles surveyed.

“Most U.S. customers will not spend more than an additional $50 per month for a vehicle just for MPG enhancing or environmentally friendly powertrain,” said Alexander Edwards, Strategic Vision’s president. “Instead, creating a product that customers can love will allow buyers to spend significantly more money because it has the right balance of styling, innovation, performance and environmental friendliness.”

Without further ado, here’s the full list, provided by Strategic Vision.

One final point of interest: while not reflected in the chart above, the manufacturer with the lineup of vehicles with the highest overall CLI scores was Volkswagen Group of America. Strategic Vision felt it was important to point out that this finding was based on data collected prior to September 2015.

According to a release from Strategic Vision regarding the finding, they had the following message on the subject: “The good news for VWGoA is that they will be working from a position where customers have initially loved their experience. When love is lost, that’s when the real work begins.”