J. D. Powers Customer Retention Study Shows Toyota Owners are Most Loyal

While premium GM brand Cadillac managed to rank 7th with a 52.8 percent retention rate, the highest placed Europeans are

Ford's 6th place 54.6 percent retention rate is mostly due to its light duty truck and SUV customers, but new cars and crossovers should boost its overall loyalty even higher. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press)

Mercedes-Benz with 51.6 percent for 8th place, followed closely by BMW with 51.4 percent in 9th.

Those brands at the bottom of J.D. Powers CRS no doubt are concerned, being that poor retention and dwindling conquest sales could result in insolvency. Oldsmobile, at the very bottom of the list, is being fazed out of production, so its low 4.3 percent retention rate won't worry GM. Isuzu's 7.0 percent rate, however, has to concern its GM parent, an odd customer response to an all-SUV brand in an SUV crazy market.

The shocker is Mazda's horribly low 23.1 percent retention rate. The brand is on the strongest sales success curve that it has ever

Mazda's horribly low 23.1 percent retention rate is simply shocking, especially considering its strong conquest sales. (Photo: Shawn Pisio, Canadian Auto Press)

experienced, which means that in order for it overcome such a poor retention rate it is attracting new car buyers from other brands at an alarming rate. Mazda will without doubt want to figure out how to keep its new customers happy.

Saab and Suzuki suffer poor retention rates due to having few models to choose from, until recently for Suzuki which now offers a lineup of Korean built ex-Daewoo cars for customer to move up to. Saab's rather poor 30.5 percent rating may improve once it offers a sport utility vehicle, and Suzuki's 31.4 percent could rise when more customers find out about its increased lineup of vehicles.