(March 26, 2013) SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — Experian Automotive today announced that in the fourth quarter 2012, Ford took the top spot in corporate loyalty for the first time since the fourth quarter 2011. During the Q4 2012 time period, 47.9 percent of the customers who own a Ford vehicle returned to buy another Ford or Lincoln vehicle.

General Motors had the second highest corporate loyalty ranking at 47.7 percent, followed by Toyota Motor Corporation at 46.9 percent.

"Customer loyalty will always be a very important barometer of automotive sales success," said Jeffrey Anderson, director of consulting and analytics for Experian Automotive. "Ford has developed extremely loyal customers across a wide range of vehicles. That consistency across its product line has helped vault Ford's loyalty rankings past its rivals in our latest study."

Ford also dominated loyalty at the brand level, coming in with 47.1 percent of Ford owners returning to the market to purchase another Ford vehicle. Mercedes Benz was second with 43.7 percent, which is a significant increase over the previous quarter when they came in ninth place with 34.6 percent.

At the model level, Ford had a record eight of the top 10 vehicles listed. The Ford Fusion topped the list with 60 percent of Fusion owners returning to market to purchase another Ford vehicle. Other Ford vehicles in the top 10 included Flex, Edge, Five Hundred, Fiesta, Escape, Focus and Taurus. The only non-Ford vehicles in the top 10 were the Kia Forte and the Chevrolet Sonic.

Brand loyalty:

Brand loyalty by model:

 In other report findings:

    • The average length of vehicle ownership fell from 68.1 months in 2011 to 66.2 months in 2012.

    • During Q4 2012, the hybrid vehicle segment accounted for 1.03 percent of all vehicles in operation (VIO). It was the first time in history that hybrids topped 1 percent of VIO.

    • Import share of vehicles in operation reached a record high 41 percent during Q4 2012.

    • Cadillac had the highest jump in brand loyalty, jumping nearly 5 percentage points from 25 percent to 30 percent during Q4 2012.

    • Luxury brands accounted for five of the top 10 gainers in brand loyalty.