DETROIT -

General Motors Co. recently received the IHS Markit Loyalty Awards program's top distinction at Automotive News World Congress.

The annual awards are now in their 22nd year and recognize winners in more than 30 categories for loyalty leadership.

With a loyalty rate of 69.1 percent, the American manufacturer took home the evening’s top award – Overall Loyalty to Manufacturer.

Meanwhile, the Ford brand received an IHS Markit award for Overall Loyalty to Make.

“Our Automotive Loyalty Awards program continues to demonstrate the focus automakers, brands and their dealer networks place on winning back and conquesting customers during a strong sales year that’s become even more competitive,” IHS Markit, automotive senior vice president Joe LaFeir said in a news release. “We are honored to recognize those industry leaders that are working to improve their loyalty efforts year over year.”

Both manufacturers and brands were recognized for superior customer retention and conquest efforts made during the 2017 model year, which includes October 2016 through September 2017.

Additionally, IHS Markit said it found that there were approximately 17.5 million new-vehicle registrations during the 2017 model year.

According to the company, 53.6 percent of customers returned to market to purchase or lease another new vehicle from the same make they already owned, which is up 0.8 percentage points from last year. 

“As the market plateaus, insight from advanced analytics will enable OEMs and their dealers to engage with consumers more efficiently and effectively, through a better understanding of consumer buying behavior,” said Steve Had, vice president, sales and product marketing solutions for IHS Markit.

Other IHS Markit loyalty award winners from this year include Jeep for highest conquest percentage for the 2017 model year; Toyota for highest ethnic loyalty; Buick for most improved loyalty to make and Jaguar for most improved conquest percentage.