Suzuki Auto South Africa bust through its 50 000 sales barrier for the first time in April as local consumers increasingly chose its many modern, value-for-money models in the tough economic environment, where vehicle sales at an industry level are falling.
The brand said yesterday it had received its final sales figures for the financial year to end-March 2024. It showed 51 969 new Suzuki models were sold in the 12 months, setting a new all-time record.
Suzuki, which supplies the local market with vehicles built in India, is one of a handful of brands that have managed to grow sales and market share in a sharply declining market – in March the new vehicle market fell by 11.3% over the same month the previous year, the eighth month of consecutive declines.
“People are feeling the pinch of high interest rates and the increase in the cost of living. We are working hard to offer … attractive and reliable new vehicles that are affordable to purchase and maintain. These value-for-money offerings have proven popular with South Africans and have contributed to Suzuki’s success, despite the negative market conditions,” said Suzuki South Africa Sales and Marketing GM Henno Havenga.
Indicating the negative market conditions, the Automotive Business Council (Naamsa) data showed that 74 868 vehicles were imported in the year to end-March 2024, a 9.3% decrease over a year before. Domestic vehicle production fell 2.29% to 137 493 units over the same period.
Motus Holdings, which sells one in five new cars in South Africa through its dealerships, said at the release of its 2024 first-half results that the trend among local consumers to buy less expensive vehicles is continuing, and consumers were doing this by buying fewer premium brands, and choosing lower category vehicles.
Havenga said they had missed the 50 000 mark by the narrowest of margins in the 2022 financial year, when 49 576 vehicles were sold. The new sales record followed a busy year for Suzuki South Africa.
In April 2023 the new Grand Vitara, its flagship and the first hybrid Suzuki model, was introduced in this country. The Suzuki Eeco panel van landed in the same month. Other models joined the line-up throughout the year, including the Fronx, XL6 and the Jimny five-door model.
Suzuki and its dealers also set several monthly sales records. These included selling the 200 000 South African Suzuki in July 2023, breaking through the 5 000-a-month record in January with 5 249 sales, and the Suzuki dealer network selling a record 4 488 vehicles to customers in February.
Suzuki produced 30 million units in India by the end of March. It took Suzuki in India 40 years and four months since the start of production to reach this number.
BUSINESS REPORT