[VKumar]

Originally Posted by GTO

Simple question = Are you loyal to any car brand? Please vote on the poll with your reasoning for the same.

Request you to add 'others' or 'partially loyal' to the list. I mean, there are a few like me who need one Toyota in their garage always; no matter what other car is.

Full brand loyalty = Only Toyota, no I am not
No brand loyalty = Brands changing - I always have a Toyota
Semi brand loyalty = There will be other brands too but there will always be a Toyota


EDIT: Voted yes, even if partial - I am loyal towards them; strongly suggest and advocate the brand Toyota t friends and relatives at times

[400notout]

Voted No

But then , what else do you expect from a Chevrolet owner

[Rajeevraj]

Voted No. Although my first 3 cars were Marutis, the main reason was not brand loyalty but more to do which what met my preferences.

Now own a VW. Again, it was because it met my requirements.

Actually thinking about it, I don't think I am loyal to a brand for anything I own or use.

[volkman10]

Voted No - but will always toggle between Japanese and German brands.

With Reliability taking precedence over Performance cannot afford to strike off a Japanese brand. ( through experience)

[dark.knight]

WOW, the number of users who voted No are much more than those who voted Yes.

Its my belief that marketing and sales departments of any product oriented company, rely on brand-loyalty and repeat-customers to have any kind of solid growth in future. Without brand loyalty Toyota and Honda would never have gotten that big in U.S, Suzuki and Hyundai in India, VW in Europe and China.. well you get the idea. Most of their growth stories have been built on repeat buys, not just on first time customers.

I'm a kind of customer who sticks to what he finds comfortable always, mostly because I've used them before - be it Gillette shaving cream, Colgate toothpaste or even my favorite soft drink - Pepsi, never Coke. Then there is my friend who enjoys variety.. no two cars that he's bought ever belonged to the same brand, in his view life is short and one needs to experience everything there is to.. quick as possible. My view is - familiarity is family, straying to another brand is very uncomfortable for me, and I've made myself out to be an amusing case-study as a marketing guy. Most companies would wish for customers like myself.

However, its not all irrational - as far as cars go, I belong to a very small section in a forum such as this, we look for space, quality and reliability all in a single car as we've always owned only one car at a time. For such buyers it is important that we choose well, and when we finally change, it should be an all-rounder and more importantly, reliable so that we don't waste a second in trying to fix niggles and rattles in a car. So far the experience with Hyundai has been flawless.. this brand may not impress those who like European cars, nor those who want to seek some sort of X-factor or positive quirks in cars, but for us, where we want that single car to do a bit of everything, plus have a service station not more than a KM away (huge bonus), I see nothing wrong in saying that I'm brand-loyal, until now.

Brand loyalty is GOOD.. whether its Apple, Microsoft, Android, Toyota or Hyundai, it simply shows the world at large that people trust the product blindly and that their past experiences with the brand has been largely, positive. In a world with no perfect product, and with most consumers being emotional buyers.. it is in fact, all too natural.

[Biraj]

Voted NO. I am more brand averse than loyal. I am not likely to buy cars from certain brands irrespective of how good they are.

I am open to any other brand as long as the product is value for money, fun to drive, and good looking. In that order.

[Arjun Reddy]

Tops I have seen is a 50k loyalty bonus(mainstream), and they try and reduce the purchase price of the exchange car. If that is what the manufacturers price for loyalty is, then I am not interested if the aren't.

The market has grown and so the number of manufacturers. Lot of choices in every segment with a healthy overlap.

Voted No.

It has been the opposite with the phone. I have been with Apple from the time they have launched. Probably more due to the IOS rather than the hardware.

[headbanger]

Am I a repeat customer? Yes. 3 Marutis.
Am I brand-loyal? No.

All three purchases were from the same brand simply because at that price-point, Maruti offered me the best VFM product. The only loyalty towards the brand (apart from being offered loyalty bonus), if at all was to be with the devil I knew rather than being with the unknown without any significant difference in the competing products.

One of my friends is what I term as brand-loyal. 5 years of experience with Etios meant that he chose Innova without seeing/test-drive/in contention any other car. He plonked 25+Lac without even giving the competition a chance - Simply because it's a Toyota!!! Now that's a heck of money to be won by Toyota without letting the competition even in the ring, leave about fighting with Toyota. To me, that is brand-loyalty.

[nmenon]

I voted No.

Evidenced by the fact that I had a Maruti, when the time came though I considered a Maruti car didn't really look at the brand and finally ended up with a Ford since it fit my budget and requirements.

I'll say honestly that due to the good experience I had with Maruti in the 11 years I had their product I will add a product from their stable to my shortlist if it actually meets my requirements and will give them a cursory look in at least.

But from a purchase standpoint I'll pick up the car which most suits my needs rather than from a brand.

[pratyush6]

Voted - No.

My first car was a Ford and I do look at Fords more favourably than others but then you also need to be objective about the number of boxes a car ticks. So when I am in the market for a car now, I have everything from a BMW to a Volkswagen, that suit my needs far more than any Ford right now.

[Hayek]

When it comes to cars, empirical evidence suggests I am NOT brand loyal. Why? I have owned a Maruti Zen, a Honda City, a Hyundai Getz, a Skoda Superb, a Volkswagen Vento and a BMW X3. If I consider my broader family, my parents owned a Landmaster, a Maruti 800, a Premier 118 NE and a Hyundai Santro. No repeats in any case. Hence voted NO.

However, on other things, I am extremely brand loyal. I have owned an iPad, iPad 2, iPad 4, an iPad Mini 2, and an IPad Pro 2; an iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, two iPhone 6s,and 2 iPhone 7s. Almost all my ties are Ferragamos, suits are Raymond and running shoes are ASICS Gel Kayanos. So I guess if I get products that meet my needs perfectly, I am very brand loyal - it’s just that the Auto Industry has failed me.

[ruzbehxyz]

Most of the time, it's what you want when it comes to cars. As far as brand is concerned it's mainly Toyota in India where customers are mostly loyal because of various known reasons. When it comes to phones I think Apple owners are mostly inclined to Apple, generally.

[Rshrey22]

Why should we be brand loyal when the brands are not loyal to us?

There is so much cost cutting, lack of safety features in our cars, bad after sales services, customer support and the list goes on and on.

Frankly speaking, being an automotive enthusiast is just an expensive exercise as the companies want woo us into spending every penny lying in our wallets on our cars in their service centres.

[vidyanand]

Voted Yes as I own 2 cars from Hyundai even when all others in my Family are mixed brands - Volvo, FIAT, Mahindra and Maruti.

But my repeat purchase was not a loyalty as such but more of liking to the new design and features they had. I still remember how I suddenly bumped my budget to get the i10 rather than planned Santro back in 2008. When i20 launched, I loved the features in it so ended up getting the i-gen version later.

[Balaji31582]

I voted yes - But with a slight different thought. Its not just with the brand but with the region/country.
Our family's first car was a Getz followed by chevy beat. Currently I own a toyota etios. My brother owned eon followed by City. Going by history and current experience, I see we have become a big fan of Japanese cars and so this is going to sustain for sometime. This is purely based on the product and the after sales experience.