IRVINE, Calif. -

During a span that included recalls and ramifications from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, Kelley Blue Book discovered the Toyota brand dominates new-vehicle shopping activity on Kbb.com when examining shopper loyalty and share-of-voice data from the past three years.

Since the first quarter of 2010, KBB indicated, Toyota has claimed the top spot for shopper loyalty on Kbb.com more than any other brand.

When Kelley Blue Book Market Intelligence studied cross-shopping consideration and other brand loyalty factors among new-car shoppers on KBB's website, analysts found that Toyota has ranked No. 1 for five out of the last nine quarters. Meanwhile, Honda and Hyundai have each claimed the top spot two times.

Most recently, during the second quarter of this year, Kelley Blue Book found more than half of Toyota owners visiting Kbb.com remained loyal to the brand as defined by researching a new Toyota model on the site.

Furthermore, the company said Toyota has been the undisputed leader in share-of-voice across its website in terms of new-car shopping activity for the past three years.

Officials determined that there have only been two months in which Toyota was not the most-shopped brand on Kbb.com during that timeframe — June and July of last year, largely due to inventory shortages resulting from the tsunami in Japan. During those two months Honda claimed the top spot. 

In addition, KBB pointed out that nearly 41 percent of Toyota shoppers who view Toyota model attributes through Kelley Blue Book-generated content — such as consumer and expert reviews and ratings, awards, video reviews and vehicle specification — also research Toyota pricing on Kbb.com.

Moreover, Toyota models continue to remain fixtures at the top of the website's most-shopped new-model lists.

Last month, five of the top 25 most-shopped new vehicles on KBB's site were Toyota models:  Camry (No. 1), Highlander (No. 13), Corolla (No. 17), RAV4 (No. 18) and Tacoma (No. 23).

Toyota had more vehicles on the list than any other brand, while Honda and Ford came in a close second, each with four vehicles on the top 25 most-shopped new vehicles list for August.

“Toyota’s reputation for quality, reliability and strong resale values undoubtedly contribute to the brand’s success. New-car shoppers on Kbb.com continue to prove their love for Toyota, time and time again,” said Arthur Henry, manager of market intelligence for Kelley Blue Book.

“Recent redesigns of best-selling models like the Camry, and increasing popularity of fuel-sippers like the Prius family, continue to drive interest and traffic to Toyota’s new cars on Kbb.com. The brand also has very impressive, longstanding shopper loyalty statistics,” Henry went on to say.

According to KBB website traffic data, more people shop for a Camry than any other vehicle, and more consumers shop for a Prius than any other hybrid on the top-rated car-research site.