Upticks across the board
Because the study was redesigned in 2022, comparing this year’s loyalty rates to those of the last study is not an apples-to-apples situation.
However, there are clear upticks in loyalty rates among the top brands.
Toyota saw a 1.1 percentage point jump from its mass market rating a year ago in its mass market car segment. The SUV segment jumped even more, by 2.5 percentage points, from 2021’s mass market average.
Subaru, beat out by Toyota despite holding the mass market crown last year, is also rising. In the SUV segment, the brand’s rate rose by 0.8 percentage points.
Premium brands arguably saw the biggest climb on average. Porsche saw a 7.2 percentage point uptick, and BMW saw an even 13 percentage point increase.
The largest jump from a brand’s 2021 mass market average came from America’s sole loyalty champion. Ford jumped 9.9 percentage points from its previous rating.
Supply chain woes surprisingly helpful
J.D. Power’s statement said many of the upticks can be attributed to the new-vehicle shortage.
“The issue of tight supply chain and lower-than-normal production could have been quite disruptive to loyalty, but the highest-ranking brands excelled by staying focused on keeping owners in the brand,” Tyson Jominy, vice president of data & analytics at J.D. Power, said in the statement.
Jominy said the shortage is just one of many disruptions on the horizon. He cites the rise of electric vehicles as suspect for changing the loyalty rating status quo.
“There is an element of risk to brand loyalty that could erode for those sitting on the sidelines or not moving quickly enough,” Jominy said.
