Top-10 Car Brands In Customer Loyalty - Subaru Drops Again
How loyal are Subaru Forester, Outback, and Crosstrek customers? According to a report from Automotive News (by subscription), Subaru's loyalty rate in 2020 was 70.4 percent, and in 2021 through August 31, 2021, Subaru of America's loyalty rating slipped to 69.2 percent.
Subaru wasn't the only automaker to slip. Overall consumer loyalty among all car brands dropped by more than three percentage points in 2021 through August 31, 2021, according to U.S. registration data analysis by Experian.
photo credit: North Fort Lauderdale Subaru
In 2021, Subaru was third in customer loyalty behind Ferrari and Tesla. Now Subaru drops to fourth place behind Tesla, Ford, and Ferrari.
How does Subaru's customer loyalty rank with the top ten car brands in 2022? Here are the top ten car brands in customer loyalty through January 31, 2022. The U.S. industry average is 60.8 percent brand loyalty. Now three automakers rank ahead of Subaru with Ford moving up.
1. Tesla 80.9
2. Ford 72.4
3. Ferrari 67.7
4. Subaru 67.1
5. Hyundai -Kia 64.6
6. Toyota 63.6
7. BMW 62.2
8. Nissan 59.1
9. Honda 59.1
10. GM 58.1
Which automakers have the worst loyalty?
Jaguar Land Rover has the worst loyalty rate at 33.8 percent, Mazda at 53.1 percent, Mitsubishi at 53.6 percent, Volkswagen at 50.6 percent, and Stellantis at 50.3 percent round out the bottom five car brands.
Why is Subaru slipping? It's due to low new vehicle inventory due to the global microchip shortages. Cox Automotive data reveals overall car sales volume fell to its lowest level since the Great Recession as the ongoing global microchip shortage continues to deplete inventory. Subaru's inventory levels shrunk to a 3-day supply in April 2022.
2022 has been defined by short supplies of new Forester, Outback, and Crosstrek, the brand's top three selling all-wheel-drive models. Subaru was forced to shut down new vehicle production in Japan five times this year.
Many Forester, Outback, and Crosstrek customers are return customers trading in a Subaru vehicle. With few new models to sell, many customers are ordering a new model and waiting for four and sometimes five months for Subaru to deliver the new car.
Customers looking for a 2022 Subaru Forestermor 2022 Crosstrek will not find any new model sitting on retailers' lots this summer. A source close to Subaru told us, "Every 2022 Crosstrek and Forester we have coming through September is sold."
Subaru customers remain loyal to the brand even with the razor-thin new car inventory of its most popular models; the 2022 Forester compact SUV, Outback midsize SUV, and Crosstrek subcompact SUV. They are willing to wait months for their new all-wheel-drive to be built and delivered.
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Denis Flierl has invested over 30 years in the automotive industry in a consulting role working with every major car brand. He is an accredited member of the Rocky Mountain Automotive Press. Check out Subaru Report where he covers all of the Japanese automaker's models. More stories can be found on the Torque News Subaru page. Follow Denis on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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Photo credit: main image NFL Subaru
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