Brand loyalty lags for used-vehicle owners
Drivers who bought their cars used show little loyalty to their current brand when buying another vehicle — especially when they buy another used vehicle— according to the latest research by LexisNexis Risk Solutions.
The data and analytics firm’s 2023 Automotive Brand Loyalty Study found just 21% of used-vehicle owners who bought their next vehicle used went on to repurchase the same brand again, which is actually a 1% increase from the previous year.
Used-vehicle owners who bought new vehicles were more loyal, but not by much, staying with the same brand 26% of the time.
In contrast, 51.3% of new-car owners bought the same brand for their next new-car purchase, up from 49.7% in 2022, led by Tesla’s 60.7% loyalty rate, up from 59.0%.
LexisNexis analyzed vehicles and owners that make up a garage, using 107 million U.S. garages to calculate automotive brand loyalty from January through December 2023.
The study found about 62% of new-vehicle purchases in 2023 included a trade-in, while 26% added a vehicle to a garage and 11% of new-vehicle purchases were made by owners who did not have a vehicle in the garage — which includes first-time buyers and those who had gone an extended period without a vehicle.
“Automakers can further build brand loyalty by connecting with used-car owners and offering services to them as if they were the original owners,” said Dave Nemtuda, LexisNexis Risk Solutions’ head of OEM products, U.S. connected car. “That connection could be the shift that automakers need to see an uptick in brand loyalty and customer engagement with their brand on many levels.”
More about the study is available here.