2018-01-04Staff Report 2 Staff Reporter Suzuki Auto South Africa is preparing for another bumper sales year in 2018, after finishing 2017 with an all-time sales record. The company has also announced the extension of its mechanical warranty bonus for the first quarter of the new year. “While we wait for the ratified full-year figures from Naamsa, we have already exceeded our previous sales records for the year-to-November in 2017, with sales of more than 8 000 units,” says André Venter, the divisional head of sales and marketing at Suzuki. “While we fully expect to report very strong sales in December, it may not exceed November’s sales, which were an all-time record for the company. To celebrate, we have decided to extend our comprehensive mechanical warranty on all passenger vehicles until the end of March.” Suzuki last year introduced a comprehensive 5-year/200 000 km warranty on its entire range of passenger vehicles for all vehicles sold until the end of the year. Aside from doubling the standard distance and nearly doubling the warranty period to five years, Suzuki maintained all warranty benefits for the extended period. This means that there is no coverage degradation or age-linked warranty exclusions, which are standard on almost all extended mechanical warranties in the industry. Japan’s compact vehicle specialist has also honoured its promise to freeze vehicle prices until the new year. As such, it will raise its prices on all models by 1.5 percent, with the exception of the popular Ignis. “The Ignis has proven exceedingly popular the world over, and we have decided to freeze its price and not punish the many people who have patiently added their names to the waiting list,” says Venter. This may yet prove to be the Ignis year. It is a finalist in the 2018 WesBank/SA Guild of Motoring Journalists’ Car of the Year competition and is shortlisted for several consumer awards. It may, however, meet with stiff competition from past industry winners such as the Suzuki Celerio and from the upcoming new Suzuki Swift. Aside from new models and derivatives, Suzuki is planning new dealerships in South Africa and neighbouring countries. “Much of our success in 2017 is attributable to our committed dealer network. It has not only opened new dealerships in under-serviced areas, but has worked hard to maintain our high service levels despite the very high influx of new customers. For 2018, we will support this fast-growing customer base with new dealerships across South Africa and some of our neighbouring states.” 2018-01-04Staff Report 2
