SOUTHFIELD, Mich. -- Low gasoline prices are helping large vehicles win over consumers’ hearts.
According to recent data from IHS Markit, more than two-thirds of sport utility vehicle (SUV) and crossover utility vehicle (CUV) owners who returned to the market in the first four months of 2017 to buy a new vehicle chose another SUV or CUV. In fact, SUV and CUV loyalty has grown from less than 53% in 2012 to a record high of more than 66% in April 2017.
Loyalty for pickup trucks is also growing: Almost 51% of pickup owners who entered the market for a new vehicle in the first four months of 2017 bought another truck.
Meanwhile, sedan loyalty rates are slipping. According to IHS Markit, the percentage of sedan owners who bought another sedan for their next vehicle has slipped from 56.2% in 2012 to 48.6% in April 2017. If this decline continues through the rest of 2017, it would be the first year when less than half of sedan households bought another sedan for their next new vehicle. In the first four months of 2017, two-thirds of sedan owners bought an SUV or CUV instead.
SUVs, CUVs and pickups accounted for more than 85% of new light-duty vehicle registrations in the first four months of 2017.
“The exceptionally high loyalty of SUV/CUV households is driven by continued proliferation of crossover models across a wide range of size, price and functionality,” said Tom Libby, manager, automotive loyalty and industry analysis for IHS Markit, Southfield, Mich. “In some cases this proliferation has resulted in two or even three models in the same segment from the same brand.”
IHS Markit found that those sedan households most likely to switch to a different vehicle type own only one sedan; it refers to these consumers as “nomads.” It defines households that have owned two or more of the same vehicle body type consecutively as “loyalists” or “super loyalists;” they tend to be much less likely to switch to a different vehicle type for their next purchase.
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