Toyota is the world’s largest carmaker, followed closely by the Volkswagen Group and Hyundai. Aside from sheer volume, the secret to Toyota’s success is its unusually high brand loyalty. A recent study by J.D. Power found that the brand’s owners are most likely going to buy another as their next vehicle purchase. The result is that the Japanese carmaker is not just dominating sales figures for the moment. It will likely do so through generations because people can’t stop buying Toyotas.

Toyota has very high brand-loyalty

According to J.D. Power, Toyota has a brand loyalty of 59.5 percent. The high loyalty rating means that over half of current Toyota owners will buy another as their next vehicle purchase. Repeat buyers are especially important when a brand can offer products to first-time car buyers.

Affordable entries into the brand such as the Corolla, Yaris, and CH-R make it easy to enter the brand. From there, models like the Camry, RAV4, and Prius allow those first-time buyers to upgrade without breaking the bank. Besides larger models, Toyota’s lineup is also one of the most diverse, offering off-roaders, sports cars, and hydrogen-powered vehicles.

In case buyers increase their income significantly, they can go on to buy a Lexus. The luxury brand carries the highest loyalty rating of any luxury brand at 47.6 percent. Once in the Lexus brand, buyers can choose from entry-level models like the IS 300 all the way to the six-figure LC 500.

Nothing beats having a reliable car

In 2019, J.D. Power’s 2019 conducted a study testing 32 major automotive brands for overall dependability. Lexus topped the list with Toyota following closely in third place. The result is that Toyota buyers are more likely to have a positive experience with their vehicles than almost any other brand. These excellent dependability ratings often result in high customer satisfaction ratings.

Another major factor of car ownership is long term maintenance. The majority of available and past Toyota models offer either a naturally aspirated four-cylinder or six-cylinder engine and very few electronics. The lack of a turbocharger or other powertrain complexities means that the cars are significantly cheaper to maintain over time. Consumer Reports ranked Toyota’s vehicles as some of the cheapest to maintain up to a 10-year period.

Toyota sold over 2 million cars in 2019 in the U.S. alone

The combination of all of Toyota’s efforts resulted in 2,085,206 cars sold in the U.S. in 2019, according to GoodCarBadCar. If the brand loyalty rating is anything to go by, almost 60 percent of those buyers will return and buy another car from the brand. The brand’s most affordable models are by far the most important models and, as a result, receive the most investment.

The Corolla, RAV4, and Camry each sell more cars per year than the entire Lexus brand. The Japanese manufacturer’s success does not seem to be slowing down, with investment in hydrogen fuel cell technology, hybrid powertrains, and more SUVs than we can count. While people can’t seem to stop buying Toyotas, it is certainly for a good reason.