Polk announces Automotive Loyalty Award winners
The automotive loyalty tracking firm R. L. Polk & Co. presented the 10th Annual Polk Automotive Loyalty Awards at the 2006 Automotive News World Congress, with Toyota winning the Overall Make award for posting the highest make loyalty to an automotive division.
The Toyota division also boasted two model loyalty awards, and Lexus, the luxury division of Toyota Motor Sales USA, also secured two model loyalty awards within its own vehicle segments.
Stephen R. Polk, president and CEO for R. L. Polk & Co, said, "The success of Toyota in this year's loyalty awards ceremony mirrors the increasing national sales and market share trends for Toyota. Toyota has succeeded in providing a product portfolio that enticed a growing number of customers to remain loyal to their vehicles when presented with numerous choices when returning to the marketplace."
Other winners General Motors continued to outpace the rest of the industry in terms of manufacturer loyalty, winning for the sixth consecutive year in the Overall Manufacturer category. Fully 63% of GM owners returning to market in 2005 opted for another new GM vehicle.
Other brands capturing loyalty honours for the 2005 model year, which ended September 30, 2005, are Chevrolet, Chrysler, Ford, Land Rover, Lincoln, Mercedes-Benz, Mercury, Saturn and Subaru.
Detroit successes The Detroit-based "Big Three" claimed seven loyalty awards among the fourteen vehicle segment categories, with Ford Motor Company accepting honours for its Ford F-Series, Ford Mustang, Lincoln Town Car and Mercury Grand Marquis and the F-Series and Mustang being repeat winners from 2004. General Motors collected awards for its Chevrolet Suburban and Saturn ION, while Chrysler's Town & Country took top loyalty honours in the Minivan segment for the fifth consecutive year.
Asian successes Driven by Toyota, five vehicle segments had Asian models emerge as leaders of their respective categories, the highest number of awards captured by Asian automakers since the inception of the Polk Automotive Loyalty Awards. In addition to the Overall Make award, Toyota Motor Sales took home loyalty awards for two cars and two truck-based models: Toyota Camry, Toyota Tacoma, Lexus LS 430 and Lexus RX 300/330/400h. Subaru Forester won in the Compact SUV segment for the third consecutive year.
European successes Among the European winners, the second generation 2005 Mercedes-Benz SLK- Class took home the loyalty award for Prestige Sport Car category. Land Rover secured the Prestige Sport Utility Vehicle category for the second consecutive year for its Range Rover nameplate.
The Polk Manufacturer Loyalty Excelerator Report, which is the basis for the Polk Automotive Loyalty rankings and annual awards, provides up to date insight into consumer loyalty, and was created in 1995 to provide household loyalty information to manufacturers at many different levels.
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