Tesla captures multiple awards; Mercedes-Benz and Subaru win awards for the first time in several years

S&P Global Mobility announced the winners of its 27th annual Automotive Loyalty Awards, recognizing General Motors as the winner of its 'Overall Loyalty to Manufacturer' award and Tesla for 'Overall Loyalty to Make.' Tracking buying activity from January - December 2022, the industry faced many obstacles as fewer customers returned to the market and loyalty fell for the third year in a row.

"The past three years have been a challenge for the automotive industry," said Joe LaFeir, President, Automotive Insights, S&P Global Mobility. "As customers are returning back to market post-pandemic and inventory levels have slowly improved from last year's lows, retaining loyal customers has been more challenging than ever before."

Industry-wide inventory shortages prompted many consumers to shop other brands if their previously chosen brand did not have sufficient stock. From pre-pandemic 2019, overall industry average loyalty has decreased from 54.6% to 50.2% in 2022.

The calendar year 2022 marks the eighth consecutive win for GM in the 'Overall Loyalty to Manufacturer' category, the and 19th win in the last 27 years. Consistent demand for GM's sport-utility and pickup offerings, in addition to rising Inventory levels, led to strong loyalty gains for the manufacturer throughout 2022.

On top of its 'Overall Loyalty to Make' recognition, Tesla scored repeat wins for 'Highest Conquest Percentage' and "Alternative Powertrain Loyalty to Make.' The combination of an active return-to-market consumer base and a majority share of BEV sales were contributors to Tesla's loyalty performance this year. However, the brand's resonance with ethnic consumers was a key driver in its recognition of loyalty improvement and diversity retention.

Ethnic consumers represented 40% of all personal vehicle registrations for 2022, an increase of two percentage points from the previous year. For more than 15 years, Ethnic customer retention has been part of the loyalty awards program in various forms. For 2022, S&P Global Mobility has combined the diverse consumer base under one category, 'Ethnic Market Loyalty to Make,' to reflect the combined growth in the ethnic market over the last several years. Tesla was the winner of this year's award as 52% of its loyal volume came from ethnic consumers.

"Ethnic buyers have increased their market share in the industry every year for the last decade, making them an important audience in building loyalty success for the foreseeable future," said Vince Palomarez, product manager, Loyalty, at S&P Global Mobility.

Mercedes-Benz, with the successful launch of the EQS, was recognized this year as the winner for the 'Most Improved Alternative Powertrain Loyalty to Make' award, recognizing a brand's improvement in its ability to retain an owner to both the brand and either a BEV or hybrid powertrain.

Subaru scored its first win in the 'Overall Loyalty to Dealer' category as 38 percent of Subaru owners returning to market acquired their next vehicle from the same dealer.

A complete list of 2022 award winners follows:

Note: *repeat winner from the 2021 awards.

Loyalty Awards Methodology

This year's awards are based on a fact-based analysis of 11.7 million new retail vehicle registrations in the U.S. during the 2022 calendar year. Loyalty is determined when a household that owns a new vehicle returns to market and acquires another new vehicle of the same make, model or manufacturer. The newly acquired vehicle may be either a replacement or an addition to the household fleet.

S&P Global Mobility has been tracking automotive loyalty for 27 years. Major automakers and their marketing partners rely on these data and analyses to make informed decisions surrounding related to customer purchasing behavior, including conquest and retention. The Automotive Loyalty Awards from S&P Global Mobility are the industry's only fact-based awards of their kind. For more information, please visit this link.

S&P Global Mobility will discuss the awards and automotive loyalty trends during its Quarterly Loyalty Summit (webinar) on Tuesday, February 28 at 1:00 pm ET. Please use this link to register.

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This article was published by S&P Global Mobility and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.