[PrideRed]

I am not brand loyal but brand conscious. For example, I will not buy a car from a brand that is yet to establish its name in market no matter how good the car is. I am okay to pay a bit premium for an established product/brand.

[Nav-i-gator]

Voted No (Since this poll is about cars, which is not a frequent buy)

Apart from cars though, I think I'm pretty brand loyal. I still prefer to buy products of companies I have worked with (FMCG, Durables and electronics), for products which are essentially same, barring the brand.

Where other aspects of a product are differentiated (In terms of technology, service, tangibles like ease of operation etc) - like cars, telecom service providers, softwares, mobile applications etc - I prefer to evaluate the product before deciding to buy. Brands are looked at only for short-listing products to compare.

[jinojohnt]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Wow. Would like to hear your arguments supporting your statement.

When you are not that knowledgeable about cars, you just trust a brand and hope/pray that nothing will go wrong. When you start understanding the mechanicals / electronics, you start moving away from the brand and start looking at the product instead (Take the case of GTO).
And when you start getting more knowledgeable, you'll stop getting loyal based on service as well

[geronimo]

My 2 bits - Brand loyalty, in the conventional sense, is non existent as per several emerging researches in marketing. What does exist, however, is repertoire behavior - i.e. consumers will choose / try / buy from a repertoire of brands. However, not all brands in the market will be a part of the repertoire - and the key task of the marketer is to find its way into the consumers' repertoire. In conventional terms, they need to get into the consideration set (which will always be a smaller subset of brands in the market) of consumers. Brands that find themselves to be in the consideration of a greater percentage of consumers eventually end up winning greater share.

For me, of the brands I have personal experience in (Maruti, Premier Padmini, HM, Toyota, Honda, Ford, Hyundai) - the brands that end up being in my consideration set are Toyota, Honda and Ford. Also considering my desire to upgrade and my view of these brands on the slightly higher segment of cars I have previously owned. There are also brands like Volvo and BMW (from all luxury marquees) that I will consider, if ever I was to upgrade to those segments.

Given that I do have a greater sense of affinity (or loyalty) to a subset of brands, I have voted yes to the survey.

[BoneCollector]

Originally Posted by BoneCollector

I voted for Yes.

We've been loyal to Maruti

Forgot to add, my signature says a Honda City. That's my Sister-in-law's car and going by her and our experience at its service by 2 different service centers in NCR, I'll refrain from commenting on it. The car is superb but we've had issues with AC compressor failing just after service, engine oil not changed during service and soiled seats to name a few.

Originally Posted by jinojohnt

Brand loyalty is inversely proportional to your knowledge about cars.

Care to explain . Your post doesn't convey what you're trying to say. Do you mean to say that people sticking to a particular brand have no knowledge about cars or is it that they stick to a particular brand because they've no knowledge about cars?

[hemanth.anand]

My cars: Maruti Suzuki 800, Fiat Punto, Volkswagen Polo GT TSI.
Other cars of friends/family I've driven a lot or often: Tata Safari, Honda City, Mahindra E2O, Alto K10 AGS

Two Wheelers: Kinetic Luna, Bajaj Pulsar, TVS Scooty, Honda Activa, Vespa S 125.
I've booked the Ather 450 which is a Startup...should I say anything more!

That's 1 repetition...some I enjoy/enjoyed, Some I don't/didn't. I'm pretty sure my next car will be from none of these brands

What will I do with Brand name that cannot put a smile on my face when I ride/drive one. I drive/ride for myself, not for what others perceive of me.

[_nitink_]

Although I am not so old that I can quote any examples, but even with this limited experience, I prefer not to be brand loyal. Yes I may like one brand more than the other, but in no way I stay brand loyal. I think we must focus on the product and not the brand. however, in our situation, people mostly look at the brand rather than the product. When we were in the market to buy a new car, we looked at products and not the brand.
Contrary to this, there are a few brands like Toyota, which have more brand loyal people than any other. Maybe this is the reason why Innova and Fortuner are the best sellers in their segments even when some better products are available in the market.

[R2D2]

Voted yes. I've owned and driven a number of cars since i obtained my DL back in 1984 including Ambassadors, Premier Padmini, BMW, Toyota, a Ford, Honda, Maruti and Fiat. This ownership has been both in India and overseas.

I believe over time brands begin to offer a certain USP, a brand identity if I may call it that, which goes with each of their products.

I generally go in for a particular marque or its closest competitor. For e.g. for reliability I'd take a Toyota, Honda, Maruti . For an executive sedan I'd take a Euro sedan e.g. 53xi, a Jaguar, or a Mercedes Benz E class. And since I do admire Toyota for not having scalped me even once in 12.5 years of ownership with 2 cars, I'd include the redoubtable Lexus. I can't afford a Lambo or a Ferrari so I'll leave those performance exotics aside.

For presence and 'coolness' I love American muscle cars - back in the US early 2Ks I had a Mustang albeit with the "puny" 2 litre engine. She was OK but heck it's a Mustang dude! I'd have loved the 5 litre V8 version or even a Chevy Corvette!

What matters to me is what I call the overall "ownership experience" which encompasses the car's looks, performance, reliability, after sales, fuel consumption, comfort, durability among other things all in varying proportions and weights that help me come to an overall score. It is this score that makes me a repeat buyer. Depending on my budget would I buy a Toyota, a Lexus, a Honda, BMW or a M-B? Yep without a doubt.

[paragsachania]

If someone makes a comment for or against a particular brand in any other thread, don't look elsewhere but come straight here and look for a post from that member .

Jokes apart, Co-incidentally the only cars I have owned and driven are from the Maruti stable and both of them add up to nearly 4 Lac kilometers and without much ado. Does that make me brand loyal? Definitely NO.

When I purchased these 2 cars, they ended up being the ultimate choice after weighing a lot of options and factoring my requirements. Will my next one also be from the same brand - Mostly no as I know today there exists quite a few options that are better in all aspects but It certainly has to satisfy my requirements when I buy the next one.

However, as PrideRed put it earlier, I am certainly brand conscious and my next pick from a different brand will also be due to certain reasons. Various products from car makers that I have come across and also driven around for immensely longer distances (Inter Cities) to justify that it was indeed a proper TD than a joy ride, learnt about experiences of dealing with issues and periodic services and how they are either winners or losers not just for me but for folks from my family who will often travel with me - It is exactly these attributes which I am immensely conscious about before making a purchasing decision.

And since I don't buy cars to sell (Resale value) or to Park (less running), or to race (cruiser vs sprinter), decision making often is easier in reality. Nor will I ever want to post a 10,000 Kms update on my next new car and say 'Its has been niggle free' and rave about it because my needs are different!

[CrippledLucifer]

Not really, even though I'll say I'm personally biased towards BMWs. Unfortunately, BMW of yore are much better driving machines than BMW of today. Still, I enjoy BMW vehicles in comparison to the Audi's and Merc's and am in fact planning to upgrade to an F10 535i next spring.

I grew up around Toyota's though and my parents have owned multiple Land Cruiser generations over the years. They're staunch supporters of the brand and purchased an Innova Crysta last year. They're considering investing in yet another Land Cruiser down the road, but my father is a little turned off the sheer price of the vehicle here in India.

[torquecurve]

Voted for Yes .

Our cars - 2009 Vista SaFire, 2011 Manza, 2011 Nano, 2012 Vista QDJ, 2015 Celerio, 2016 Nano XTA, 2018 Superb PW, 2018 Hexa XTA.

Brand loyalty, yes. Have we ever been let down by our cars never. The two Vistas have clocked 2 lakh plus kms together with the others being around the 30k mark. Except for the Hexa which is a recent purchase.

Tough as nails build quality, abuse friendly, VFM cars from one stable. The only exceptions being the celerio - sister wanted an automatic and it was the only one around then. The superb was an impulse buy.

[Axe77]

Voted NO

Certainly not loyal to a brand per se. I would assess each car on its own merits at the time of purchase. Of course my prior experience or perception of certain qualities within a brand may influence a purchase decision but ultimately I would pick the best car in my opinion for my specific need from that car - loyalty would play no part in the decision.

In the last 10 years our garage has seen the following cars (some overlapping in ownership and not listed in an exact order of ownership).

Zen (pre-owned), Wagon R, Swift, Baleno, i10, Accord manual (pre-owned), Civic, City (pre-owned), i20, Sunny, BMW, G-i10.

Before that we had one car for about 18 years - the original 1983/84 baby blue 800.

Initial spate of Marutis were principally a result of the budget we were restricted to and cars that my mum was comfortable driving

(OT but on a side note, it was my mum who chose the Baleno and pre-owned 1st gen manual Accord as self drive cars for herself at corresponding times when I owned the Swift and Civic!) :-)

[octane_100]

Voted 'NO'. I evaluate the cars in my consideration set with an open mind. There would be some bias based on previous experiences and market perceptions. But, I am not loyal to any brand.

[vrprabhu]

Originally Posted by Nav-i-gator

Where other aspects of a product are differentiated (In terms of technology, service, tangibles like ease of operation etc) - like cars, telecom service providers, softwares, mobile applications etc - I prefer to evaluate the product before deciding to buy. Brands are looked at only for short-listing products to compare.

I think you have summed up the reason for this thread

Why? Because -

1. Car is an asset, on which there is a substantial capital outlay. Ergo, it is not a use and throw consumer item.

2. Overall ownership experience will be a key factor in evaluation of loyalty over a period. Probably discerning purchasers (including our members) will be weighing all the pros and cons, when it comes to their next purchase - will it be similar in respect of all the purchasers?

3. Apart from 'brand' value, cars have an emotional connect with its owner - most bhpians will definitely be in this category. Guess most ads and commercials try to exploit this 'sentiment'. Aren't they trying to build this through 'loyalty' discounts?

4. I am going to get clobbered for saying this - Maruti is unable to crack the top end of the market despite their attempts, which sort of implies that 'premium' car model buyer isn't going to short list this 'brand'. The other side of the coin is that the brands which have substantial goodwill - lets say, a Jag - isn't going to enter mass market, as they will try to maintain their exclusivity.

At both ends of the spectrum, brand loyalty does have a role to play - to what extent is anybody's guess - when it is time to replace your car.....

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by jinojohnt

When you are not that knowledgeable about cars, you just trust a brand and hope/pray that nothing will go wrong. When you start understanding the mechanicals / electronics, you start moving away from the brand and start looking at the product instead (Take the case of GTO).
And when you start getting more knowledgeable, you'll stop getting loyal based on service as well

Aaahh. The joys of diversity. Thank you for putting up your reply. On a lighter note now I know why I know so little about cars. :-)