GM and Tesla score big in S&P Global Mobility loyalty awards

S&P Global Mobility conducts all sorts of surveys and studies throughout the year to gauge consumer loyalty and automaker brand perception. The organization recently released its 2023 Annual Automotive Loyalty Awards, with Tesla and General Motors taking top marks in the 27th iteration of the study.

General Motors’ win in the “Overall Loyalty to Manufacturer” is its 19th in 27 years. S&P said that strong demand and rising inventory levels helped the automaker. Tesla took the top spot for “Overall Loyalty to Make,” with the organization citing its dominance in the EV space and an actively shopping consumer base as factors in its win.

“Ethnic” buyers accounted for a massive 40 percent of new vehicle registrations last year, and were major players in Tesla’s loyalty success. S&P Global Mobility combined several groups under the “ethnic” category and said that Tesla was the overall winner with the group, seeing 52 percent of its overall loyalty volume from ethnic consumers. S&P defines ethnic consumers as buyers not from Eastern or Western Europe, including immigrants and people with heritage from those regions.

S&P Mobility analyzed almost 12 million new vehicle registrations in 2022 to calculate its scores. It defines loyalty as a household that owns a new vehicle and returns to buy another vehicle of the same make, model, or manufacturer. The new purchase can replace or add to the existing garage.

Outside of the winners, S&P tracks brands that improve over time. Mercedes-Benz won the complicatedly titled “Most Improved Alternative Powertrain Loyalty to Make” thanks to its new EQS EV. Subaru won its first “Overall Loyalty to Dealer” award, with 38 percent of owners returning to buy from the same dealer.

S&P’s full list of winners for 2022 includes:

*Automakers with asterisks won the same category in 2021