February 1st, 2023, Bhavika Bansal
A large investment, and long-term commitment for many, buying a car is often preceded by thorough online and offline research. A recent YouGov survey across 17 global markets revealed that almost a quarter of adults in the US (23%) check social media reviews before purchasing a car.
Data from YouGov Global Automotive Profiles also reveals that recommendations from friends and/or family is one of the top five methods of research used by consumers in the US who intend to purchase a new, used, or certified pre-owned car over the next 12 months. Almost two-fifths of prospective car buyers in the US (38%), significantly higher than the global average (32%), consider such recommendations before picking a new set of wheels.
Evidently, recommendations can play a major role in increasing sales for carmakers in the US.
And with almost a third of consumers in the US (29%) intending to buy a new car over the next 12 months, an insight into which carmakers in the US have the highest consumer recommendation scores can be quite helpful.
Data from YouGov BrandIndex reveals that Toyota earned the highest Net Recommendation score - which tracks whether consumers would recommend a given brand to a friend or tell them to avoid it - over the last quarter. The Japanese auto giant - manufacturer of the RAV4, Camry and Tacoma, three of America’s bestselling car models in 2022 - scored 40.6 points during the 3-month period.
Automotive bigwig, Honda Motors - maker of the Honda Accord and Civic, and big winner at the Car and Driver 2023 10Best Cars Awards - comes in a distant second with a score of 34.1.
The gap continues to widen as we move down the list - Japanese auto manufacturer Subaru sits at number three with a score of 23.8 points followed by Chevrolet, the American automobile division of General Motors, with 21.4 points.
The Ford Motor company closes out the top ten with a score of 19.7 points. Incidentally, in a similar study in the British market, Ford was number two on the list.
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Methodology: YouGov BrandIndex collects data on thousands of brands every day. Recommend score is based on the question: Which of the following brands would you recommend/tell a friend to avoid and delivered as a net score between –100 and +100. The data is based on the interviews of US adults aged 18+ between October 25, 2022 and January 24, 2023. The figures are based on a four-week moving average. Learn more about BrandIndex.
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels