Hybrid Review

I think in general Toyota and Honda owners are very loyal. It is likely the brand, not the hybrid drive train that is responsible for the loyalty.

How 'loyal' are most people, then? I see the infrequent ad for a discount on the next Ford or whatever for people who own Fords, but it's not like a frequent flyer program or one of those loyalty points clubs- for most people, car buying is a very infrequent and important thing, so rewards for multiple purchases would have to be substantial.

There will always be some people who pick a brand and stick to it, but how typical is that and what's really going on there? (meaning- do repeat buyers come back because of actual loyalty or because of some other consistent factor like price, reputation for safety, quality or durability that leads to the same reasoned choice the next time? Don't many people who own multiple cars own more than one brand, too? So what would that do to the theory?) Just curious.

While that's true, the report points out that the Prius is tops on their list for engendering loyalty.

The table they used isn't going to be formatted correctly, here but...:
Model Model-Level Brand-Level Corporation-Level
Retention Retention Retention
Prius 41.9% 74.3% 78.2%
Avalon 36.1% 64.9% 71.5%
Highlander** 14.1% 63.9% 67.0%
Camry 35.4% 62.2% 64.6%
Echo N/A 54.0% 62.9%
Sienna 28.9% 59.2% 61.5%
RAV4 27.3% 58.7% 61.4%
Toyota Brand 56.4% 60.0%

So, the overall brand loyalty to Toyota was 60%, while the overall brand loyalty for the Prius was 74%. I'd call that significant.

Hybrid Review

I think you've hit the nail on head on why people are loyal. Loyalty to a brand is usually a good indication of a companies price, reputation for safety, quality and durability.

Also, someone who has owned a particular brand is more informed the next time. So, if they turn around and purchase from the same company, what does that say?

Multiple car brand households (is that the correct way to put that?) can sometimes be tied to people in the household being loyal to a particular brand.

Hybrid Review

I think hybrid loyalty is high because hybrids are over-engineered to the task at hand, thus their failure rates are lower than other types of vehicles. When a car runs well for a REALLY long time (in my case, 110k miles in 4 years), it certainly inspires loyalty!

I think loyalty begins with individual experience, and could also be influenced by the experience of those they know. Passion seems to override loyalty at times (for say, a sports car). What I don't get is why people stick with loosing brands for the sake of the brand. I really don't know why some car companies still have customers. Of the 6 cars my family (brother, parents, myself) own, 5 are Hondas. Why? Because they have an 11 year track record of virtually trouble-free driving. Chrystler, on the other hand, betrayed me in 1992 with the worst car I've ever owned and service to match. I don't care how good they look now, so long as there is a Honda equivalent to what they offer they'll never see another penny from me. Sometimes I think auto makers just focus on tricking new buyers to their brand, rather than honoring the hard-earned money existing customers have already given to them.

*** Retired after 65,000 outstanding miles ***

Did you even look at the study?

Quote:

Owners of all three Honda-badged hybrids are more loyal than the typical Honda driver.

Part of it is that you become accustomed to a given company's designs. I grew up with Fords, and GM's always feel weird. Everything feels like it's slightly in the wrong place.

And the design is 95% of the reason we got an HCH2 rather than the Prius. The Prius would've been more efficient (we do mostly city driving) and more practical (the hatchback would've been great), but we just couldn't stand Toyota's interior style.

Would-be hypermiler