Hyundai No. 1 for brand loyalty; Ford highest rated among Detroit Three

The new Elantra, Accent and Veloster are bringing brand-loyal Hyundai owners into dealerships to see what the noise about these great cars is all about. This follows a Kelley Blue Book report that Hyundai has upheld its No. 1 spot for brand loyalty on kbb.com for the third quarter of 2011.

It is the second quarter in a row that Hyundai has come out on top.

Kbb.com defines brand loyalty as “owners of the brand who are currently shopping the same brand for their next vehicle.”

“Hyundai owners truly love their cars, so it’s no surprise that their support has pushed us to the top of kbb.com’s brand-loyalty rankings,” said Scott Margason, director, product planning, Hyundai Motor America.

“From all-new models like the 40 mpg 2012 Veloster, to popular models such as Sonata, Elantra and Accent (pictured), we continually offer our customers more reasons to remain loyal to our vehicles and our brand.”

Hyundai’s brand loyalty tops the list at 48%. Behind the Korean carmaker is Toyota (47.9%), Subaru (45.9%), Kia (45.3%) and Ford Motor (45.2%).

Kelley Blue Book Market Intelligence examines brand loyalty while consumers are still in the shopping phase. For this analysis, Kelley reviewed data from people who view a trade-in page or private-party page in addition to a new-car page on Kelley Blue Book’s kbb.com, Hyundai said.

“Hyundai’s loyalty has been relatively high over the past couple of years because owners have been impressed with the level of quality received for the price paid,” said Arthur Henry, market intelligence manager for kbb.com.

“However, Hyundai loyalty is now stronger than any other brand because of the impressive and well-received styling of (its) recently launched and redesigned models.”

Founded in 1926, Kelley Blue Book is the only vehicle valuation and information source trusted and relied upon by both consumers and the industry. Each week the company provides the most market-reflective values in the industry on its top-rated Web site, kbb.com, including its famous Blue Book Trade-In and Retail Values and Fair Purchase Price, which reports what others are paying for new cars this week.

You can reach TN's Hawke Fracassa at hawkefracassa@aol.com or (248) 747-1550. Follow him on Twitter @HawkeFracassa.

Image source: Hyundai