Study: Hyundai customer loyalty upends Toyota, Honda, takes #1

[Sal Collaziano]

Filed under: Car Buying, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota

2011 Hyundai Sonata - Click above for high-res image gallery​

It's no secret that Hyundai has been enjoying a healthy dose of praise lately, especially with fresh new products like the Genesis, Tucson and Sonata garnering a lot of media attention. But it isn't just the press that thinks Hyundai is on a roll - Kelley Blue Book now reports that the automaker now holds the Number One spot in brand loyalty, with 56.3 percent of Hyundai owners looking within the brand for new car purchases. Honda continues to hold the second place rank at 55.8 percent, and Toyota, in light of its recent recall woes, is down 4.4 percentage points to 53.3 percent, putting it in the third place spot.

Furthermore, the Sonata is now KBB's fifth most-researched new vehicle, mostly due to the hype surrounding the stylish new 2011 model. The only vehicles ahead of it on the list are perennial mainstays, such as the Honda Civic, Accord, CR-V and Toyota Camry.

KBB market analysts believe that Hyundai should continue to promote its attractive new products, competitive price points and great warranty program in order to keep the momentum going (duh). These analysts also suggest that domestic automakers (Ford and GM, specifically) will prove to be Hyundai's biggest competition in the near future, as these brands are set to roll out a host of new products to win over consumers. Follow the jump to read the full details in KBB's press release.


Gallery: First Drive: 2011 Hyundai Sonata



[Source: Kelley Blue Book]Continue reading Study: Hyundai customer loyalty upends Toyota, Honda, takes #1

Study: Hyundai customer loyalty upends Toyota, Honda, takes #1 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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[danieltoye101@msn.com]

I guess I'm one of them! I needed a seconded hand car because we are putting two many miles on the Genesis 24k in 11 1/2 months. So I was shopping for a used car between 5-10k with great mileage. I stumbled across a late 2008 Accent GS two door with 16k fully loaded and 38 months left on the warrenty for $7800. Came with the satellite option. I'm a happy another owner of a Hyundai.

 

[dataguy]

I nudged someone I know to buy an '11 Sonata...after they swore never to buy another Hyundai again and after owning two Toyotas since then.

 

[sherrod]

The only thing that surprises me about this is how quickly Hyundai has risen to the top.

My first Hyundai experience was with an Azera I got as a Hertz rental two years ago. Fiften minutes into driving it, I remarked out loud, "Wow, this is really a nice car!" The more I drove it, the more I liked it. That put Hyundai on my radar screen.

This year when my faithful 10-year-old Infiniti QX4 started to have major reliability issues, I immediately went shopping at Hyundai. Originally I thought I would replace the QX4 with another SUV, but when I drove the Genesis I immediately realized that no other car would do. After two happy months as a Genesis owner I am absolutely convinced that Hyundai is going to shake up the car industry. In fact, I am so convinced that I have purchased 100 shares of Hyundai stock (not trivial to do since it's only traded on the Korean stock market).