The most loyal customers in Germany are not Mercedes or VW, but Tesla and Dacia.
Cupra does particularly well with new customers.
Humans are creatures of habits.
This is often reflected in their purchasing behavior.
If a product has proven to be good, it will be bought again and again.
Car manufacturers also hope that their customers will keep coming back, and in fact many remain loyal to one brand for life.
However, the most loyal buyers are not Mercedes or BMW buyers, but Tesla and Dacia customers.
It sounds surprising, but it is true, as an evaluation of transaction data by the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) by the market analysis company Dataforce for
Automobilwoche
has shown.
Accordingly, 86.6 percent of private Tesla buyers bought an electric car from the US brand again.
And this despite the fact that the company is repeatedly criticized for its quality.
Surprising result: The most loyal customers have a cheap car brand and Tesla
Dacia follows in second place behind Tesla with a loyalty rate of 73.6 percent.
For Laura Odinius, Team Lead Customer Services at Dataforce, this is anything but surprising and is closely related to the positioning as a cheap brand: “Most Dacia customers previously came from very old used cars and now enjoy the comfort of a new car for the price of one good used car that they obviously don't want to be without."
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Anyone who buys a Tesla usually remains loyal to the brand.
© Bihlmayerfotografie/Imago
Toyota follows at a clear distance in third place.
The loyalty rate was 59.2 percent in 2022.
This is mainly thanks to the older customers, as Odnius emphasizes.
From the age of 75, 75 percent of customers are loyal to a brand.
The best German brand is Mercedes (53.9 percent) in fifth place.
Volkswagen (49.4 percent) falls just short of the top 10 in eleventh place.
German brands fare worse – because of the large number of items
The main reason for the poor performance of the German brands is their high volume.
"In general, it is easier to achieve a high level of loyalty with new brands, since fewer customers have to be convinced of a brand again," explains Odinius.
Top 10: The ten most popular cars in Germany
Top 10: The ten most popular cars in Germany
At Tesla, there is also the fact that 70 percent of the vehicles are traded in again after less than six months.
Here one can assume that the vehicles were sold abroad in order to take full advantage of the German bonuses,” emphasizes Odinius.
This special effect reduces the loyalty rate to 76 percent.
That doesn't change anything about the Texans' victory.
Electric car makes it easier to advertise for new customers - Cupra particularly successful
Overall, German drivers are anything but loyal.
Since 2010, brand loyalty has fallen from an average of 54 percent to just 46 percent in 2022.
One factor here is e-mobility (to which most customers remain loyal), which would enable manufacturers to more easily attract new customers who would not find what they were looking for in their existing brand.
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Particularly successful in this discipline: the still young Seat offshoot Cupra.
The new acquisition rate in 2022 was a strong 96.1 percent.
It follows Fiat - the Italians were able to increase the 500e from 65 to 82.6 percent.
Tesla is in third place with 75 percent.
Porsche (61.9 percent) is in ninth place as the best German manufacturer.
List of rubrics: © Bihlmayerfotografie/Imago
