Suzuki Auto South Africa and its network of dealers shattered every possible sales record in January for the best start to a year. Ever.
According to the official sales report – published by industry body naamsa on the first business day of every month – Suzuki welcomed 5 235 new customers into its fold in January.
This is a new overall sales record for the brand and the first time that Suzuki has sold more than 5 000 new vehicles in a single month. It places the brand firmly in the third position overall.
Of equal importance is the fact that Suzuki sold 4 481 of these vehicles through its dealer network. This is a new dealer sales record, and it ranks Suzuki second overall for the most vehicles sold through the retail network.
Viewed differently, Suzuki sold over 85% of its new vehicles to small businesses and individuals through its dealer network and not in large fleet deals to rental companies and the government. The average Suzuki dealer sales are above the industry average and are in line with the long-term trend for Suzuki dealers, who continue to welcome more new as well as returning customers than ever before.
“As Suzuki, we are happy to see continuous growth in our sales performance. It means that more and more people are buying into the value offered by Suzuki products and the positive experience at their local Suzuki dealer.
“We are thankful for each and every person who has continued to support the brand over the last 16 years, and we look forward to welcoming new customers to the family,” says Henno Havenga, General Manager of Sales and Marketing at Suzuki Auto South Africa.
In support of this statement, Suzuki Auto has grown every year since 2017, while the overall industry has yet to return to the sales numbers recorded then.
“To put Suzuki Auto’s growth in perspective, we have been able to sell more cars in January this year than we sold in the first two years – 2008 and 2009 – in South Africa combined. In the past five years, Suzuki has grown by over 460%, from 8 833 vehicles in 2017 to 49 573 vehicles in 2023,” says Havenga.
In these six years, Suzuki broke its own sales record 25 times. It sold more than 1 000 cars in a single month for the first time in August 2017, more than 2 000 cars for the first time in October 2020 and more than 3000 units for the first time in September 2021. It shattered the 4 000-unit barrier less than a year later in May 2022.
The growth in sales coincided with Suzuki Auto’s successful brand expansion activities, which were rolled out in step with and often in advance of its sales growth. Suzuki will continue with this programme in order to best support its growing customer base across Southern Africa.
“Suzuki’s sales performance tells a story of growth from very humble beginnings, and a story of growing momentum. The brand is welcoming more customers than ever before. This is something for which we are tremendously grateful,” says Havenga.
Returning to the recent record sales month: The top-performing Suzuki model was the Suzuki Swift with 1 566 new sales. This ranks the Swift among the three most popular passenger vehicles in South Africa.
The Suzuki Baleno (625 units sold), Ertiga (657 units), Jimny (445 units) and S-Presso (434 units) counted among the top five passenger models for the brand.
“While we celebrate every sale and sales record, we use these milestones as a litmus test for our company strategy. We remain focused on customer service and support above all else and this is not bound to change any time soon,” says Havenga.
