SUZUKI SAYS: While South African passenger car sales continued to decline during 2009, Suzuki Auto South Africa (SASA) ended the year with a flourish by recording its best-ever monthly sales performance in SA to date.
SASA’s December 2009 sales tally of 557 units is not only the highest since the company officially commenced retail operations locally 19 months ago, but also represents a new market share record of 3.46 percent.
What makes the achievement even more remarkable is that Suzuki Auto managed to up its sales to new heights in a month with fewer than usual selling days, due to the large number of public holidays. This contributed to the new car market’s second-worst sales month of 2009.
December passenger car sales amounted to only 16 708 units, some 18.2 percent lower than in November 2009. Overall car sales for 2009 slumped by 23.8 percent to end the year on 224 708 units.
“We are delighted with the performance of the Suzuki brand in the passenger car market, especially against the backdrop of the overall contraction in vehicle sales, and the particularly difficult trading conditions during December,” said Kazuyuki Yamashita, managing director of Suzuki Auto SA.
“Suzuki Auto’s December sales records vindicate our unwavering confidence in the SA market, and are just reward for the tremendous sales and after-sales service efforts of our highly committed dealer network,” he added.
Suzuki’s current model range consists of five nameplates. The most affordable of these is the value-added Alto subcompact, which accounted for some
29 percent of Suzuki Auto sales in December, and also posted its best sales results since the nameplate’s August 2009 début.
Between them, the popular Swift compact hatchback and the innovative SX4 lifestyle hatch represented a further 43 percent of Suzuki car sales in SA, while the giant-killing Jimny compact 4x4 and the versatile Grand Vitara SUV made up the remaining 28 percent of the December sales tally.
More encouraging news for Suzuki vehicle owners is that the brand’s vehicles are showing admirable resistance to the depreciation associated with the resale of cars within two years of their initial purchase .
An analysis of used car retail values reflected by Mead & McGrouther indicates that the rand value of 2008 Swift GL and SX4 AT variants actually increased, compared to their original purchase price, while the rand value of the other Swift and SX4 derivatives was only marginally lower than their purchase price.
However, while Suzuki Auto SA has ample reason to celebrate its successes, the company is not resting on its laurels. Further expansions to the model range during 2010 will see the advent of a number of newcomers.
These include an all-wheel drive version of the SX4, to coincide with a minor update to the range as a whole, and the introduction of the exciting Swift Sport. Five new dealerships, including a new facility in Namibia, will increase the brand’s sales and service footprint even further.
“While the current demand for new cars remains soft, there are encouraging signs that the recessionary impact is weakening. As a result, we are confident that the new vehicle market will start showing more definite signs of recovery from the third quarter this year,” Yamashita commented.
“It is also clear that SA motorists are increasingly acknowledging the value proposition, commitment to quality and engineering excellence epitomised by the Suzuki passenger vehicle offering,” he concluded.
SASA’s December 2009 sales tally of 557 units is not only the highest since the company officially commenced retail operations locally 19 months ago, but also represents a new market share record of 3.46 percent.
What makes the achievement even more remarkable is that Suzuki Auto managed to up its sales to new heights in a month with fewer than usual selling days, due to the large number of public holidays. This contributed to the new car market’s second-worst sales month of 2009.
December passenger car sales amounted to only 16 708 units, some 18.2 percent lower than in November 2009. Overall car sales for 2009 slumped by 23.8 percent to end the year on 224 708 units.
“We are delighted with the performance of the Suzuki brand in the passenger car market, especially against the backdrop of the overall contraction in vehicle sales, and the particularly difficult trading conditions during December,” said Kazuyuki Yamashita, managing director of Suzuki Auto SA.
“Suzuki Auto’s December sales records vindicate our unwavering confidence in the SA market, and are just reward for the tremendous sales and after-sales service efforts of our highly committed dealer network,” he added.
Suzuki’s current model range consists of five nameplates. The most affordable of these is the value-added Alto subcompact, which accounted for some
29 percent of Suzuki Auto sales in December, and also posted its best sales results since the nameplate’s August 2009 début.
Between them, the popular Swift compact hatchback and the innovative SX4 lifestyle hatch represented a further 43 percent of Suzuki car sales in SA, while the giant-killing Jimny compact 4x4 and the versatile Grand Vitara SUV made up the remaining 28 percent of the December sales tally.
More encouraging news for Suzuki vehicle owners is that the brand’s vehicles are showing admirable resistance to the depreciation associated with the resale of cars within two years of their initial purchase .
An analysis of used car retail values reflected by Mead & McGrouther indicates that the rand value of 2008 Swift GL and SX4 AT variants actually increased, compared to their original purchase price, while the rand value of the other Swift and SX4 derivatives was only marginally lower than their purchase price.
However, while Suzuki Auto SA has ample reason to celebrate its successes, the company is not resting on its laurels. Further expansions to the model range during 2010 will see the advent of a number of newcomers.
These include an all-wheel drive version of the SX4, to coincide with a minor update to the range as a whole, and the introduction of the exciting Swift Sport. Five new dealerships, including a new facility in Namibia, will increase the brand’s sales and service footprint even further.
“While the current demand for new cars remains soft, there are encouraging signs that the recessionary impact is weakening. As a result, we are confident that the new vehicle market will start showing more definite signs of recovery from the third quarter this year,” Yamashita commented.
“It is also clear that SA motorists are increasingly acknowledging the value proposition, commitment to quality and engineering excellence epitomised by the Suzuki passenger vehicle offering,” he concluded.
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