Choosing your next car is a big decision, but for many motorists they already have a good idea of the model they want next.
That’s because three in five drivers in Britain stick with their existing brand when the time comes to change motor – and a new report has revealed which manufacturers have the most loyal customers of all.
The data comes from Carwow Group’s annual Driver Power Survey – a poll of 23,000 owners across the last three years.
It reveals that while as a general rule Britons are faithful to the brands they own, some manufacturers have more dedicated followings than others.
With around four in five new cars financed, most drivers will need to replace their vehicles every three years – making customer retention one of the most important metrics for auto companies.
Based on the feedback from the huge survey, we reveal the five marques with the most loyal clients – all of them boasting brand retention statistics of between 67 and 76 per cent.
And it’s good news for Elon Musk because the brand with the second highest loyalty statistics is Tesla.
See the full list of 32 brand below to see who scores best and worst for customer retention.
Tesla has the second highest customer retention in the UK, according to a massive poll of 26k drivers. So, which brand is at number one?
Tesla is the runner up with 70 per cent of current owners saying they will buy another EV from the US maker.
The biggest driving factor for this is that four in five Tesla drivers said they’ve had a positive experience with the brand so far, while 72 per cent would stick with the company because of its innovation and class-leading battery technology.
Return customers will make Mr Musk very happy indeed, but also ministers who are betting heavily on current EV owners to replace them with a newer battery model to continue driving the uptake of electric cars as we get closer to the 2030 ban on sales of new petrol and diesel models.
But Tesla’s impressive customer feedback is no match for the brand with the best driver retention statistics: Toyota.
The Japanese marque appears to know how to keep people happy because three quarters of current Toyota drivers told the car buying and selling platform that their next motor will be another from its range.
Some 85 per cent of Toyota owners said they’d had positive experience from the brand in the past, which is the biggest deciding factor to not looking elsewhere.
And 55 per cent also said they’d stick with Toyota purely for its strong reputation.
Toyota is the brand that keeps its customers happy with 85% of existing owners saying their positive experience is why they’d buy another model from the Japanese brand
Brands from Japan – which are synonymous with reliability – are most likely to keep drivers happy, as three of the top five are makes from the country.
Lexus owners are the third most loyal to a car brand – with 69 per cent returning – driven by a positive experience in the past and its strong reputation as the leading two motivations behind repeat custom.
And Subaru drivers are the fourth most loyal, with more than two thirds favouring the brand because of its solid safety credentials.
Taking fifth spot overall is Kia.
At the opposite end of the customer retention table is Mitsubishi.
Fewer than 6 per cent of existing owners said they would buy from the Japanese marque again. However, this is for understandable reasons; Mitsubishi stop selling new cars in the UK in July 2020 as part of a strategic plan.
Therefore, the brand with the lowest returning customer rate is Cupra, with just 18 per cent of owners looking to the Seat spin-off brand for their next motor.
Cupra’s infancy and somewhat limited vehicle line-up could be a major reason for this, though Seat also scored poorly for retention with just 31 per cent of drivers claiming they will stick with the brand – good enough only for 29th in the league table of 32 car companies.
Fiat also scored poorly for return customers with 28 per cent, while Jaguar – which has stopped building and selling cars for 12 months as it transitions to becoming an EV-only brand – also didn’t impress its owners as a mere 37 per cent said they’d come back to the British company. Its sister brand Land Rover performed much better with a 50 per cent for customer retention in the survey.
MG, which is now Britain’s 10th most popular new car brand, also scored poorly for loyalty as only 42 per cent of customers said they would consider another vehicle from the Chinese make.
Mercedes will be particularly disappointed to see that just 46 per cent of owners of its premium cars want another one, while at the opposite end of the affordability spectrum budget-friendly Dacia had a similar customer retention percentage.
Lexus drivers are the third most loyal to the car brand – with seven in 10 (68 per cent) returning to the same brand – driven by a positive experience in the past
Iain Reid, of Carwow, said: ‘Car changing can be life changing – whether you’re upgrading to make space for a new baby, a new pet or a new chapter in your life.
‘Drivers will be informed by their own previous experiences, including their perceptions of brand reputation and safety credentials – all of which will inform their decision to repeat a purchase with their existing car brand.
‘It’s understandable that drivers often prefer to stick to what they know rather than gamble on something new – but it is always worth being open minded and reading real customer ratings and expert reviews.
‘Going for something different can be exciting – and might well better serve your needs.’
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