Industry News: Loyalty for SUVs and Crossovers Hits A New High

[William Maley]

Unless you have been living underneath a rock, then you know that the popularity of crossovers and SUVs have been booming. A new analysis reveals this popularity will not be going away anytime soon.

IHS Markit looked at consumer loyalty rates for various body styles from 2012 to April 2017 and found that 66.2 percent owners of SUV and crossover models returned to buy another - the highest IHS has ever recorded. To give some perspective, pickups come second at 50.9 percent.

"We collect this data and provide it to our clients once a month, but we felt that the results were so extraordinary in terms of consumer loyalty numbers for SUVs and CUVs that we wanted to publicly release it," said Tom Libby, manager of automotive loyalty and industry analysis at IHS Markit.

More surprising is how much the loyalty rate for SUVs and crossovers has been rising since 2012. That year saw a loyalty rate of 52.9 percent.

"While one can make the case that a factor is gas prices, there are some other key drivers to sport and crossover utility. One is wide range of selection in price and size of crossover vehicles. SUVs also have the appealing combination where the driver gets the comfort level of being in a car but also gets the versatility of being in a larger vehicle," Libby said.

With one body style going up, one must go down. In this case, it happens to be the sedan. In 2012, loyalty for sedans stood at 56 percent. Since then, the rate has been dropping - stands at 49 percent through the first four months of this year. IHS Markit analysis revealed that in the first four months of 2017, two-thirds of sedan owners that bought a new vehicle chose an SUV/crossover. Those likely to switch from a sedan to an SUV/crossover are ones that have owned only one sedan.

But don't expect sedans to go away anytime soon.

"While loyalty in sedans has gone down, sedans aren't going away. Sedans still play a significant part in the market, and that's not going away anytime soon," said Libby.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

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[David]

Total Truth, Been in SUV's my whole adult life, will never be in a car. SUV's Rock!  

[Robert Hall]

After 17 years of JGCs and 23 years of an SUV daily driver, I foresee always having one as my main vehicle...just so practical. 

[riviera74]

Once upon a time BOF SUVs were the thing.  It seemed as if everyone wanted one.  Then came 2008 and the recession AND the oil price spike to $149 a barrel.  Gas prices marched to $4 or more per gallon.  BOF SUVs were out; hybrids and small cars were in.  It was all about MPG rather than comfort or MPH.

I wonder how long that loyalty to SUVs and CUVs would last in an era of $4 for a gallon of gas.

[smk4565]

A lot of these crossovers get mileage like a sedan.  A Rav4 gets 23/30 mpg, a CHR gets 27/31 mpg.  People are comparing these crossovers to the mid-seize sedan they have not that gets that.  So they see it as no sacrifice in fuel economy but more space, more safety, better in snow, etc. 

Even at $5 a gallon, the big Tahoe type SUVs would get crushed, but the RAV4 and CR-V would see zero slow down, I think they would actually go up in sales with increasing gas prices.

[frogger]

CH-R has less ground clearance than a Camry and only comes in FWD, makes me laugh thinking about how they only manage to get 31mpg on the highway.

 

 

[David]

19 hours ago, riviera74 said:

Once upon a time BOF SUVs were the thing.  It seemed as if everyone wanted one.  Then came 2008 and the recession AND the oil price spike to $149 a barrel.  Gas prices marched to $4 or more per gallon.  BOF SUVs were out; hybrids and small cars were in.  It was all about MPG rather than comfort or MPH.

I wonder how long that loyalty to SUVs and CUVs would last in an era of $4 for a gallon of gas.

True, $4 gas and higher separates those that can afford an SUV from those that are living paycheck to paycheck. For me, I am very frugal, but will always have my comfort, so I plan on high gas prices while I drive my suburban, full size SUV's. I would rather not waste time on the Jones Jones race of competing with my neighbors, who cares, I will drive my comfort SUV.

18 hours ago, smk4565 said:

Even at $5 a gallon, the big Tahoe type SUVs would get crushed.

Disagree with you here as yes during our recession of 2007, everyone felt the pinch but GM did not see it as bad as other auto makers. There is still a need and demand and those that do not like debt will have the cash to buy what they want and drive what they want. I am one of those.

[smk4565]

5 hours ago, dfelt said:

True, $4 gas and higher separates those that can afford an SUV from those that are living paycheck to paycheck. For me, I am very frugal, but will always have my comfort, so I plan on high gas prices while I drive my suburban, full size SUV's. I would rather not waste time on the Jones Jones race of competing with my neighbors, who cares, I will drive my comfort SUV.

Disagree with you here as yes during our recession of 2007, everyone felt the pinch but GM did not see it as bad as other auto makers. There is still a need and demand and those that do not like debt will have the cash to buy what they want and drive what they want. I am one of those.

The recession that caused GM to file bankruptcy?

If the economy down turned like it did in 2008, sales would get hit across the board, gas guzzlers probably at the top of the list.  The cars that don't suffer in recession are things like Ferraris and Bentleys because the super wealthy seem to never lose out.  The other 99% take the loss.

[David]

27 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

The recession that caused GM to file bankruptcy?

If the economy down turned like it did in 2008, sales would get hit across the board, gas guzzlers probably at the top of the list.  The cars that don't suffer in recession are things like Ferraris and Bentleys because the super wealthy seem to never lose out.  The other 99% take the loss.

GM did the right thing to dump the ball and chain of the past garbage. After all that is what bankruptcy is for but sales of the SUV segment for GM did not drop that much to say it was not selling.

[oldshurst442]

On 7/17/2017 at 5:37 PM, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

After 17 years of JGCs and 23 years of an SUV daily driver, I foresee always having one as my main vehicle...just so practical. 

Not my style these things are.

I HATE THEM!!!

With such burning hatred you cant even begin to understand

 

But...who am I to tell you otherwise that SUVs are gas guzzling pieces of ?

If it works for you...more power to you.

 

 

 

[David]

11 minutes ago, oldshurst442 said:

Not my style these things are.

I HATE THEM!!!

With such burning hatred you cant even begin to understand

 

But...who am I to tell you otherwise that SUVs are gas guzzling pieces of ?

If it works for you...more power to you.

Yea, who would want incapable cars? After all so many Douchebags drive them!

 

[Robert Hall]

10 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

Not my style these things are.

I HATE THEM!!!

With such burning hatred you cant even begin to understand

 

 

Whatever, dude...diffrent strokes for different folks... I like the ground clearance (don't have to worry about hitting curbs with a low air dam), 4x4 traction for snow, ease of getting in and out of (high seat H-point)....never once did I care about gas mileage...16-25mpg is plenty enough, and I have room for the dogs and to haul cargo without trying to squeeze something in a trunk with a tiny opening.   SUVs suit me..   since 90% of my driving is real-world---i.e. city, suburbs, freeways, the lack of sports sedan/sports car handling doesn't bother me..

Edited July 19, 2017 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[oldshurst442]

1 hour ago, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

Whatever, dude...diffrent strokes for different folks... I like the ground clearance (don't have to worry about hitting curbs with a low air dam), 4x4 traction for snow, ease of getting in and out of (high seat H-point)....never once did I care about gas mileage...16-25mpg is plenty enough, and I have room for the dogs and to haul cargo without trying to squeeze something in a trunk with a tiny opening.   SUVs suit me..   since 90% of my driving is real-world---i.e. city, suburbs, freeways, the lack of sports sedan/sports car handling doesn't bother me..

Yes.