Stacy94PGT

Automotive News / June 25, 2003

DETROIT -- New-vehicle buyers in the United States have shown more loyalty to domestic automakers than to imports in the 2003 model year, according to midyear consumer loyalty rankings released Wednesday by R.L. Polk & Co.

A 6-month progress-report for the 2003 model year, the midyear rankings show that buyers were most loyal to General Motors. Polk found that 68.7 percent of people who bought or leased a GM vehicle had previously done so in the past 10 years.

Ford Division had the highest percentage of repeat customers of any vehicle division, with 57.6 percent.

R.L. Polk, a Southfield, Mich., data collection, analysis and marketing firm, defines loyalty as a household that buys or leases a new vehicle of the same model, make or manufacturer as they had bought or leased in the past 10 years. The information is based on registration data for vehicles bought between October 2002 and March 2003.

Among the highlights:

U.S. manufacturers topped 10 of 12 model categories.

The Saturn Vue captured the top spot in the compact SUV segment.

The Lincoln Navigator took the lead in the full-sized SUV segment, which had been dominated by the Chevrolet Suburban in recent years.

The only foreign automakers to lead segments were the BMW 7 series in the prestige luxury car segment and the Mercedes-Benz SL class in the sports car segment.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2003 Model Year Mid-Year Loyalty Rankings (October 2002 March 2003)
Category Leader
(* = 2002 winner) Loyalty % Avg. Model Loyalty Within Category %
Overall Categories:
Manufacturer Loyalty General Motors* 68.7% 55.8%
Make Loyalty Ford Division* 57.6% 45.5%
Model Categories:
Small Car Ford Focus* 26.9% 15.4%
Midsize Car Mercury Sable 31.5% 21.0%
Large Car Buick LeSabre* 41.3% 31.2%
Luxury Car Lincoln Town Car 42.9% 21.1%
Prestige Luxury Car BMW 7 Series 32.8% 25.4%
Sports Car Mercedes-Benz SL-Class* 25.3% 11.0%
Minivan Chrysler Town & Country* 31.9% 17.7%
Compact Pickup Truck Ford Ranger* 24.0% 17.9%
Fullsize Pickup Truck Ford F-Series* 38.0% 35.6%
Compact SUV Saturn VUE 30.2% 17.4%
Midsize SUV Jeep Grand Cherokee 30.7% 18.6%
Fullsize SUV Lincoln Navigator 31.9% 22.3%

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

__________________
Stacy94PGT
My first car was a 67 Mustang Coupe, 2nd one was a 67 Cougar XR-7, 3rd one was a 66 Mustang Coupe. Why did I get rid of these cars for ? I know why, because I'm stupid, stupid, stupid.

My next Ford.....