Suzuki Auto South Africa has made a bit of a habit of breaking its own sales record over the past few months, but now the local arm of the Japanese automaker has reported what it terms an “internal record”, selling more than 10 000 units in over the course of one financial year.
The brand ended its financial year in March, selling a record total of 10 146 units over the preceding 12 months.
In March 2018, the Suzuki Auto SA registered total sales of 1 012 units (not far off its monthly record of 1 179 units, achieved in February 2018). Interestingly, however, March proved to be the brand’s highest sales month through the dealer channel, with 1 005 units sold.
“While overall sales are an important criterion, we closely watch our dealer sales. To us, this is a barometer of our client relationships and of private buyers’ affinity for the Suzuki brand,” said André Venter, divisional manager for sales and marketing at Suzuki Auto SA.
“In this fiscal year, we broke our own sales records four times and welcomed many new customers to the fold,” added Venter.
The Ignis led the way for the brand in March, with 290 units registered, while the outgoing Swift hatchback added 279. The evergreen Jimny managed 115 units, while the Baleno (90), Celerio (78), Vitara (69), Ertiga (53) and Ciaz (32) all contributed to the cause. The Grand Vitara, however, could muster just five units, reserving it a place on our worst-sellers list for the month.
While Suzuki Auto SA says it has “decided to skip another industry price increase”, it has raised retail prices “by the margin necessary to accommodate the change” in VAT, ad valorem tax and exhaust emission taxes that kicked in at the start of April 2018.
“We kick off the new financial year with a good product range and some very special new models on the horizon, such as the next-generation Suzuki Swift. We will also expand our dealer network further and hope to welcome more customers into the Suzuki fold,” added Venter.