Dealers take the lead in busy August sales month

August belonged to the friends and fans of Suzuki as dealers welcomed more people through their showroom doors than ever before.

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 46 seconds.

Suzuki Auto South Africa reported on Thursday that it had sold 4 164 new vehicles in August, with a total of 3 563 (86%) of those vehicles sold through the dealer channel. This is a new record for Suzuki dealers.

And naamsa, the automotive industry body, also reported that Suzuki strengthened its position as the third-placed best-selling brand in the country, with a growing gap of over 1 000 vehicles to the fourth-placed vehicle brand.

According to naamsa, Suzuki commands 8.78% of the total vehicle market and an impressive 13.1% of the passenger vehicle market. In overall sales numbers, this means that Suzuki sold over 30 000 new vehicles in the first eight months of this year.

“We always consider our dealer sales growth as a barometer of the market’s love for the Suzuki brand,” says Henno Havenga, Manager of Auto Dealer Sales at Suzuki Auto South Africa.

“While bulk sales to fleet and government buyers remain an important part of the automotive industry, it is the one-on-one transactions between a dealer and a customer that are the true measure of people’s love and approval of our brand. And in August this was proven once again with a new dealer sales record.”

The massive growth in sales through the dealer channel is also well reflected in the performance of Suzuki Mobility Finance, a product of WesBank a division of FirstRand Bank Limited.

Says Petunia Xhego, Head of Suzuki Mobility Finance: “The growing interest from private buyers in Suzuki is clearly reflected in the growth of vehicle financing from Suzuki Mobility Finance.

“Working with Suzuki, we have created several flexible and affordable finance options, and customers have responded enthusiastically, leading to Suzuki Mobility Finance setting new records for the last four consecutive months.”

It is worth noting that Suzuki is growing its dealer and government sales steadily, with several new records set in the past year. In August, the Fleet Sales department recorded 520 sales, with the Swift and Dzire performing very well.

As before, the Suzuki Swift remains the most popular Suzuki passenger vehicle across all sales channels. In August, Suzuki handed over the keys to 1 369 new owners of Swift models. Following in second place was the Vitara Brezza (679 units), and then the Baleno, which found 476 new homes.

The S-Presso (483 units) and Celerio (144 units) remain strong contenders in the entry-level segment.

Says Havenga: “We work very closely with our dealer network to ensure that our products fit the market and customers’ needs. This has led to many small and some large changes, such as the recent safety and luxury upgrade of the Ertiga range. For this we are very proud of our network of 84 dealers, and we look forward to growing our sales even further in the future.”

In August, Suzuki also welcomed a record number of visitors to its display and driving event at the Festival of Motoring. According to the organisers, a total of 1 807 people queued up to drive or be driven in a Suzuki at one of the many experiences at the Festival.

“We pulled out all the stops for our fans at the Festival of Motoring,” says Brendon Carpenter, Brand Marketing Manager of Suzuki Auto. “Our team drove hundreds of fans around the Kyalami track in a selection of our vehicles, including our hot Swift Sport, and we had several cars on hand for self-drive experiences. The Jimny was also a firm favourite on the 4x4 track!”

Suzuki Auto South Africa was the first place, outside of India, to showcase the new Suzuki Grand Vitara to the public. The Grand Vitara took centre stage on the Suzuki stand at the Festival of Motoring.

The new Grand Vitara will join the South African Suzuki product line-up early in 2023, but fans had an opportunity to view the new flagship model at the Festival. The new Grand Vitara will introduce Smart Hybrid technology to the Suzuki range and offer AllGrip All Wheel Drive on certain models.

“The fact that we were able to show the new Grand Vitara to South Africans within a couple of weeks of its global launch is a sign of the importance of our market to Suzuki globally. As a compact vehicle specialist, Suzuki has a singular focus on providing good value, fuel-efficient and fun-to-drive cars, and this is exactly what we love as South Africans,” says Carpenter.

Subscribe to our blog and get all our exciting content delivered to you either weekly or monthly.