Are serial SUV buyers simply creatures of habit lacking in imagination or is it just that they’ve tried other types of vehicle and realized that sports utilities deliver the best blend of style, practicality and performance?
A new study from S&P Global Mobility doesn’t attempt to answer that question but it does have the data to confirm that SUV owners are the most loyal of all drivers when it comes to body style. S&P found that 73 percent of households in possession of an SUV would get another SUV when it was time to trade in their old vehicle. And that figure is no mere blip on a chart. The figure has now exceeded 70 percent for 11 consecutive quarters.
The same study discovered that drivers of other types of vehicle were nowhere near as loyal. Only 48.8 percent of pickup owners go for another truck when returning to the market, and the loyalty rate among sedan drivers is even more dire. A relatively tiny 35.6 percent of traditional ‘car’ drivers will look for another sedan.
Related: Brand Loyalty Is Fading For Most Luxury Automakers
But while the data showed SUV owners were loyal to the utility body style, it found that buyers often didn’t return to the same SUV segment. Among the compact, upper mid-size, compact luxury and upper mid-size luxury segments, loyalty never reached 50 percent.
The conclusion from S&P’s analysts is that it’s no longer enough for brands to have an SUV or two in their lineups. They need to have multiple SUVs covering different size and price points to make sure that they can retain customer loyalty when it’s time for those owners to trade in their vehicle for a new one.
