Early last year, the Ford Expedition topped the full-size utility segment in S&P Global Mobility’s 2023 Automotive Loyalty Awards, which are based on the percentage of owners that return to the market only to purchase the same model or brand when that time comes. Topping the heated full-size utility segment – which is currently dominated by the GM twins, the Chevrolet Tahoe/Suburban and GMC Yukon/Yukon XL in terms of sales – was a notable achievement for the Ford Expedition, which is currently enjoying stronger loyalty from owners than its rivals. Now, the Expedition has secured that same honor for the second straight year.
The Ford Expedition has once again ranked atop the full-size SUV segment in the 2024 S&P Global Mobility Automotive Loyalty Awards, joining the Lincoln Corsair – which finished first in the Luxury Small Utility segment, as well as the Overall Loyalty to Model category, one year after the Lincoln Nautilus was honored for having the most loyal owners of any new automotive model. These accolades are based on an analysis of over 13.1 million new retail vehicle registrations in the U.S. during the 2024 calendar year and are designed to highlight the importance of brand loyalty, determined when a household that owns a new vehicle returns to the market to acquire another vehicle of the same make, model, or manufacturer.
This year, S&P found that based on consumer buying activity from January-December 2024, overall industry loyalty rates saw a slight year-over-year improvement for the third year in a row. Brand loyalty was 51.6 percent in 2024, an increase of 0.6 percentage points compared to 2023’s 51.0 percent – growth that occurred as customers returning to market increased by four percent versus the previous year, signaling not only that more people are coming back to purchase vehicles, but they are remaining with their previous brand when doing so.
“While brand loyalty is still below pre-pandemic levels, we are starting to see a consistent trend of customers going back to the brands they are familiar with,” said Joe LaFeir, President, Automotive Insights, S&P Global Mobility. “This will be important as we navigate a period of uncertainty in our industry assessing tariff and trade impacts on vehicle demand, making retention an even greater indicator of brand health.”
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