LexFather

Luxury brands take particular pains to breed loyalty in their customers, since the cars they sell ostensibly offer something beyond the best value for money, whether that’s a style, a feel or a history. Cultivating a sense of belonging ensures buyers will return to the brand when they need to replace their current vehicle, and that’s a sure way to grow sales. According to the latest J.D. Power and Associates survey, Lexus has done a very good job of this, as almost half of its owners traded in for another of the brand’s offerings in the first quarter of 2008.
Last place Saab saw only 8.8% of its customers return to the brand during the same period, while the traditional powerhouses of the luxury market - BMW and Mercedes - both hovered just above 40% in owner loyalty. Cadillac filled in fourth spot, just 0.4% ahead of Porsche, which retained 36.9% of its owners. From there it’s a steep drop to Acura at 29.3%, Lincoln at 28.2%, Audi at 22.7% and Infiniti and Volvo both at about 20%, rounding out the top ten.

The biggest surprise on the list is undoubtedly Hummer, which not only didn’t finish last, but outranked SUV-only rival Land Rover by a full percentage point, coming in at 16.8% to the now Tata-owned marque’s 15.6%. Land Rover’s sister company, Jaguar, filled in the one remaining spot ahead of Saab at 14.2%.

Whether these numbers reflect larger trends in the industry or are merely indicative the state of the market during those three months is tough to tell. Certainly the larger disparities are significant, but rankings separated by only a few percent cannot be taken strictly at face value due to the limited time frame and random chance of buyers choosing to sell or trade vehicles.

Luxury Brand Owner Loyalty

Luxury Nameplate 3 Months 2008
Loyalty* (June 1-Aug. 24)

Lexus 48.0%
BMW 44.0%
Mercedes-Benz 41.2%
Cadillac 37.3%
Porsche 36.9%
Acura 29.3%
Lincoln 28.2%
Audi 22.7%
Infiniti 20.7%
Volvo 20.0%
HUMMER 16.8%
Land Rover 15.6%
Jaguar 14.2%
Saab 8.8%

blacksc400

iTrader: (4)

Of course Lexus!!!
I am very loyal.

spwolf

how come hyundai is not on that list?

Pearlpower

iTrader: (2)

Don't know too many repeat Hyundai owners. In fact I know of none, myself included.

LexFather

Its a luxury owners survey. The funny thing is I got it off another forum and some stated that 1/2 the brands on the list shouldn't be on there

GStateOM

Whoa! I'm shocked

I mean, their cars are outdated, their cup holders are too small and they don't even offer an in dash hard drive for the tunes, and their r #1 in owner loyalty??????

I mean, NO HARD DRIVE? I MEAN C'MON MAN!!!! With no in dash hard drive, Lexus will definately be out of business in 10 years man. No doubt about that one....

Pearlpower

iTrader: (2)

You must not be in the car business or marketing. BTW Lexus does offer hard drives in a few of their cars.
Not everyone purchases cars based on the needs of one person; what is important to you is obviously not a priority for others which is why Lexus excels is so many ways and still remains on top in many areas. 0-60 times do not drive a majority of customers to the dealers, neither does braking distance or skid times. Most shoppers look at the overall package.
Cup holders? Yep, I agree, not a single Lexus I have owned has had a good cup holder but that generally never comes to mind when I am going through life. Porsche did not even offer cup holders till recently and they did ok.

Surprised Jag rated so low, even below Hummer and LR.

B Dot

Saab and Hummer are luxury?

Lexmex

Another Saab story.

marshmallo

I would definitely buy another if I could afford it

Gojirra99

I am very loyal for now

FKL

Just in the US right? I don't think the guys over in Munich are crying too much...They have Germany and all of Western Europe locked down. Ditto for Audi and China.

LexFather

We know German companies have Germany on lock. From 4 cylinder A class/1 series etc to Taxi-cab E-classes to 6 cylinder 7 series to diesel A8s to SLRs, they have the market covered.

FYI, Lexus is now one of the best selling brands in China as well as Russia.

If you have a German report you want to share, please start a thread about it and not try to rain on this report. Thanks

pagemaster

I am just so suprised a how close BMW is to lexus. I thought Lexus was near 60%. A 48% loyalty rate is a little low IMO. It seems that everyone is pretty low. I would like to see trends for each compared...then we would get a good indication of how well they are doing.

What is the most interesting thing about this survey is that Lexus is not all that far ahead of BMW...While yes Lexus cars don't break and they do drive smooth, they are still not a good as BMW IMO...

Max707

I think my Lexus dealer does a good job but they really try and steal my money with over priced service. I try and do thinks like brakes, etc. at my local Toyota dealership. I can get a semi-synthetic oil change at my Lexus dealership for the same price as a full synthetic oil change at the Toyota dealership. I use the Lexus dealership with the semi-synthetic change since I am still under warranty and I have to change it every 5K miles and at 5K mile intervals I could run about any oil and get almost no engine wear in the 4.7 V8 that my LX has so it is not a big factor other then they like to try and screw you out of your hard earned cash at the Lexus dealership.