Suzuki soars, joins top 10 South African brands

The National Association for Automobile Manufacturers’ statistics confirmed that Suzuki sold 12 123 units in the last calendar year and grew by well over 30% in a year that the general market declined by 1%.

This singular achievement means that Suzuki is now part of the 1 000-unit-per-month club and only 16 months after celebrating the first time it sold over 1 000 units in one month (August 2017).

“We are particularly proud of the fact that the major part of our sales – 9 375 units – came from dealer sales,” said André Venter, divisional manager for sales and marketing at Suzuki Auto South Africa.

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“This means that our growth is driven by private buyers who choose the brand and not by large corporate transactions that simply boost sales numbers.”

In December, Suzuki sold 938 cars and light commercial vehicles, giving it a share of 2,3% of the total market and 3,3% of the passenger vehicle market.

It also cemented Suzuki’s position as number 10 in the top best-selling vehicle brands in South Africa. “For the year ahead, we will continue to strengthen our dealer network and our product line-up to further grow our sales.

We are particularly excited to have received the thumbs up from Japan to introduce our Boosterjet turbocharged engines in the new year,” Venter said.

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Suzuki’s innovate Boosterjet engines use a short intake manifold, an integrated exhaust manifold, a turbo with an intercooler and Suzuki’s proprietary lightweight engineering to offer greater fuel efficiency and power from smaller combustion volume.

One of the first examples of Suzuki’s innovative turbo-technology will be the 1.4 Boosterjet engine to be introduced in the all-new Suzuki Swift Sport.

This engine will deliver 103kW and 230Nm, while still offering a fuel consumption figure of as little as 6,1 litres/100km.