Last year, Hyundai sold 435,064 vehicles in the United States, and chances are pretty good they’ll be back for more the next time they need a new ride; after all, according to the Kelley Blue Book folks, the automaker was No. 1 in terms of automotive brand loyalty in the month of February, passing Honda—and Toyota.
Per the team at KBB, Hyundai’s brand loyalty—defined as the percent of a current automaker’s customers that is researching same-brand products online at kbb.com—increased by 10.4 percent. Honda saw a .7 percent increase and also passed Toyota in terms of brand loyalty, with the latter seeing a not-unexpected decrease of 4.4 percent.
“A large part of Hyundai’s momentum is a result of introducing passionate new products like the 2011 Sonata and 2010 Tucson,” said James Bell, executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book’s kbb.com.
Those two vehicles, the mid-size Sonata and Tucson small crossover, were both completely redesigned and now show off Hyundai’s striking new “fluidic sculpture” design language, which greatly improved their appearance. Both are also notably more fuel efficient than their predecessors as well, thanks to Hyundai’s new 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine: The Sonata’s EPA ratings went from 22 mpg city/32 mpg highway to 24/35, while the Tucson’s fuel efficiency moved from 20/26 to 23/31. But Hyundai Woodbridge VA dealers find that consumers are not just coming to the brand in drove for efficiency, but are choosing the brand for quality as well.
And it’s not just past customers who are attracted by this kind of products, as evidenced by the fact that Tucson sales were up a full 102 percent in February, with the Sonata ringing up a 58 percent sales leap. Last month’s sales were up 11 percent as a whole for Hyundai.
A final February feat? The new Sonata also came in at fifth in kbb.com’s “most researched” top-10 rankings, behind only the Honda Accord, Honda Civic, Toyota Camry and Honda CR-V. It’s the first time the Hyundai has appeared on the list.
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