The Vehicles in Today’s Garages Shape Tomorrow’s Brand Loyalty

New vehicle brand loyalty climbed to 53.4% in the first half of 2026, according to the latest LexisNexis® Risk Solutions Automotive Brand Loyalty Study. The mid-year 2026 results show an increase of 2.4 percentage points over 2025. This upward trend underscores stronger consumer retention as auto market conditions stabilize and inventory levels normalize.

LexisNexis Risk Solutions data scientists employed proprietary loyalty methodology (see box) to analyze consumers’ vehicle purchases, which brands are in garages and whether the same brand were purchased.

The biannual LexisNexis Risk Solutions Automotive Brand Loyalty Study indicates that OEMs must continue to compete for market share among consumers who seek price and tax-credit incentives in an automotive landscape transitioning toward vehicle efficiency and away from gasoline-powered engines.

Hybrid Fuel Types Continue Upward Climb

A key factor in vehicle brand loyalty over the last several years has centered on fuel type. The cessation of the electric vehicle (EV) government incentive tax credit in September 2025 changed the market dynamics of EV brand loyalty.

In the period of Jan 2025 – Sept 2025, EV purchases made up 10% of new personal EV sales. Post-September 2025 – Mid year 2026, that figure fell to 7.4%. EV owners did not replace their electric vehicle with another, dropping the loyalty rate to 60%, from 68.8% in 2025.

Hybrid fuel-type vehicle owners hold the most loyal moniker with a 56.5% brand loyalty rate, reinforcing the growing importance of hybrid offerings in maintaining customer relationships. During the same period, gasoline repurchases surged briefly, following the EV tax credit end, before returning to prior levels.

Tesla rebounds to number one

Tesla regained the top spot in brand loyalty, reaching 63.9%, an eight-percentage-point increase from the end of 2025. It leads a group of nine OEM brands that exceeds the industry average. The four brands immediately behind Tesla had loyalty rates ranging from 62.6% to 59.3%.

In 2024, Tesla held the number one position with 59.7% brand loyalty. In the first half of 2025, its rate fell to 51.7%, well below peers in the category, and closed the year at 55.4%. A resurgence in Tesla brand loyalty in the first half of 2026 is a good example of how total cost of vehicle ownership and market fluctuations in consumer preferences for automotive brands can drive shifts in brand loyalty, creating uncertainty for OEMs.

Overall, the mid-year 2026 results point to an improving brand loyalty market that remains influenced by external forces, including incentives and shifting fuel preferences.

Data gathering through proprietary linking technology and the LexID® unique identifier enables analysis of U.S. consumers and their vehicle purchases to understand repurchase and retention behavior for vehicles. New data, pulled from January 1 to June 30, 2026, provides a snapshot of consumers’ preferences for the automobile brand they drive.

Data scientists linked vehicle ownership and purchase data to analyze the resulting datasets using a loyalty methodology. They indexed purchased vehicles against garaged vehicles, seeking a match that paired vehicles and labeled the relationship to the appropriate model category, brand or OEM loyalty.

To determine a loyalty rating, the loyalty methodology used the percentage of garages that acquired a vehicle of the same model or brand. A loyalty rate of more than 50% indicates buyer brand loyalty retention with the same brand versus a competing brand.