Volkswagen tops brand loyalty study in Australia
Roy Morgan survey puts German brand ahead of all other non-luxury brands in customer retention rates.
Volkswagen customers are the most loyal in Australia according to a new survey by Roy Morgan, putting the German brand ahead of other non-luxury marques like Toyota, Mazda and Subaru.
According to the June quarter's edition of the Automotive Currency Report, 61.5 per cent of Volkswagen owners said they would be looking to buy their next car from the same brand, ahead of Toyota (59.6 per cent) and Mazda (57.5 per cent).
What's so interesting about these results is how quickly the German brand has recovered from the Dieselgate emissions scandal that first broke in September 2015 – before then the company sat at 66 per cent loyalty, falling to 49 per cent just months after the news broke.
Beyond the podium finishers, the brands with the next highest levels of loyalty were Subaru (54.4 per cent), Honda (50.9 per cent) and Hyundai (47.7 per cent).
"Every CEO and marketing director in the world learned a lesson from the controversy that engulfed Volkswagen in 2015, but they can now learn another lesson – how a brand can recover from that kind of slump," said Michele Levine, Roy Morgan CEO.
"VW has made it back to the top of the brand-loyalty stakes in June, but its major competitors are close behind – Toyota and Mazda rank second and third by a slim margin.
“Good research can help any brand steal a march on its competitors. At Roy Morgan we are constantly improving our research tools and products to ensure clients have the deep market understanding needed to build a brand – or rebuild a brand."
The Roy Morgan Automotive Currency Report is based on data collected by the firm's single-source survey, based on more than 50,000 "in-depth face-to-face in-home interviews per year".
What do you think of the survey's findings?
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