Brand retention at auto dealers nationwide was up in 2023 to 43.7%, according to an annual report released by Reynolds and Reynolds.
The 2024 Automotive Brand Retention and Defection Report is derived from finalized deals for new and used vehicles that were purchased or leased at U.S. dealerships operating on Reynolds’ DMS. The report tracks 48 OEM brands, and it includes deals where both vehicles were one of those brands.
The report notes that, 2023 was tumultuous for retail automotive due to inflation, continued volatility in acquiring used vehicles, and an increasing amount of new vehicle inventory. But brand retention was relatively stable—the 43.7% was up from 2022’s. The report noted six brands had nationwide retention rates of more than 50%.
Growth Despite Challenges
Despite economic challenges brought on by rising interest rates and inflation, which could push consumers to look for a more financially comfortable situation by moving to a different brand of vehicle, owners continue to show great resilience in staying with the brand they prefer year over year.
Brand retention nationwide was extremely positive in 2023. Of the 38 brands, 28 saw retention rates increase year-over-year. The report noted 11 brands have shown year over year retention growth for the past three years: Porsche, BMW, Chevrolet, Volvo, GMC, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Lincoln, MINI, Maserati, and Mitsubishi.
Toyota is once again top for brand retention at 60.1%, and Honda is its closest mainstream competitor and the only other mainstream brand to have more than 50% retention in 2023.
Toyota Continue to Rule
Toyota maintained its hold on the top spot for retention. However, the brand has shown a slight decline in retention since 2021 and a boost in retention for Lexus, closed the percentage gap between the sibling brands. The two brands top the retention charts together at 60.1% and 58.4% nationwide respectively.
Their closest paired rivals would be Honda and Acura which had 52.2% and 42.8% nationwide retention rates respectively.
Showing up on almost every Top Five list, Chevrolet continues to be a popular conquest target for nearly every mainstream brand. It was sixth on Mazda’s list, missing 5th place by roughly half a percentage point. And on MINI’s list, it was several percentage points out of contention, like last year, landing in seventh place.
Truck Stop
In 2023, overall truck retention rebounded back to 2021 levels with a two percentage point increase to 72.5% and just 0.1% off from where it was in 2021.
Chevrolet/GMC continued to lead the way in brand retention when looking at deals where a Chevrolet/GMC truck was traded in for any vehicle (57.2%), and in deals where the truck was traded in for another truck (75.2%). Both rates increased from the previous year.
Ford was second for brand retention vs. any vehicle (47%), and third for brand retention vs. any truck (63.5%). Toyota landed just ahead of Ford in second place for retention vs. any truck (66%).
