Ford repeats as winner of Polk's Loyalty Awards with African-American consumers

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Ford repeats as winner of Polk's Loyalty Awards with African-American consumers

(January 10, 2012) The 16th Annual Polk Automotive Loyalty Awards were held in Detroit at the Automotive News World Congress and Ford Motor Co. was a big winner in the African-American consumer categories. The awards recognize loyalty in a number of categories, including loyalty among black, Hispanic and Asian consumers.

Loyalty is determined when a household that owns a new vehicle returns to market and purchases or leases another new vehicle of the same model or make. Polk tracks owner loyalty throughout the year and regularly works with customers to effectively manage owner loyalty through in-depth analysis of automotive shopping behaviors, related market influencers and development of retention strategies. The 2011 awards are based on an analysis of 5.5 million return-to-market events during the 2011 model year. The model year ran from Oct. 1, 2010 through Sept. 30, 2011.

Ford was the repeat winner in the African-American Loyalty to Make category, with 61.4% choosing the carmaker. That was the highest percentage earned by any auto company for loyalty among ethnic consumers.

Joining Ford on stage to accept recognition was its ad agency for the African-American market, UniWorld Group.

Overall Awards	Winner	Loyalty %

Overall Loyalty to Manufacturer	Ford Motor Co. (repeat winner)	62.90%
Overall Loyalty to Make	Ford (repeat winner)	61.70%
Ethnic Market Overall Loyalty:
African-American Market	Ford (repeat winner)	61.40%
Hispanic Market Loyalty	Honda	55.40%
Asian Market Loyalty	Toyota (repeat winner)	50.60%
Most Improved Loyalty	Jeep	7.70%

According to Marc Bland, Polk's Head of Diversity & Inclusion, African-Americans' top choice for Loyalty to Manufacturer was Ford / Lincoln with 62.9% returning to the OEM for their next purchase. The winner among African-American consumers for Most Improved Loyalty was Jeep at +6.8% between the 2010 and 2011 model years.

"We are honored that our customers continue to choose our products. Each day, Ford endeavors to gain their loyalty and advocacy by providing choices, fuel economy, smart technology and safety," said Ken Czubay, vice president of sales and service for Ford.

"OEMs are paying increasingly close attention to loyalty as the industry begins to rebound," said Stephen Polk, chairman, president and CEO of Polk. "Together with some of the retention programs manufacturers have put in place, and several new product launches in the past few years, there are a lot of exciting options in showrooms for consumers who are in the market for new vehicles," he said.

"It's clear that keeping customers is an integral part of the business strategy at the OEM and dealer levels," said Brad Smith, director of Polk's Loyalty Management Practice. "In addition, a renewed emphasis on ethnic marketing has improved loyalty to the brand and manufacturer."