There seems to be only one direction for Japan’s specialist compact car manufacturer – up.
Suzuki Auto South Africa today announced that it broke through the magical 1 000-unit mark in August, making it the single biggest sales month for the brand since it was formally established in South Africa in 2008.
The new sales record of 1 004 units represents a jump of 34% over its previous figure of 744 units, which it achieved in the preceding month of July. It is the first time that the brand has broken through the 1 000–mark and it welcomes it to a new category of mid-sized vehicle brands.
While this new sales target is a significant milestone for Suzuki, it also heralded another internal record – 50 000 customers.
“Last month, we not only broke our own sales targets to set a new sales record for Suzuki, but we also welcomed our 50 000th South African Suzuki owner to the fold. Selling a total of 50 000 Suzuki vehicles is a significant milestone for a brand that is less than 10 years old and a massive achievement for our dedicated Suzuki dealer network and head office staff,” says André Venter, divisional head for sales and marketing at Suzuki Auto.
The Suzuki Swift was Suzuki’s top performer in this busy sales month, with 350 units sold. It was followed by CAR Magazine and Cars.co.za’s top budget car, the Celerio with sales of 177 units and the unique Ignis, which sold 144 units in the same month.
In January this year, several leading media organisations gave a hint of the year that was to come. At the Wesbank / Cars.co.za Consumer Awards, the panel of judges tallied the input of thousands of South African motorists and identified Suzuki as their Brand of the Year. Similarly, CAR Magazine said that Suzuki was the “Brand to watch” in its annual Top 12 Awards.
