The upcoming Toyota Vitz (right) is a rebadged Suzuki Celerio
Give credit where credit is due: Suzuki Auto South Africa improved its 2021 sales figure by 71%, selling 47 178 units in 2022. That is impressive, because it made the Japanese automaker the third best-selling brand in South Africa after Toyota (132 035 units) and the Volkswagen Group (69 801).
For Suzuki, having been in business in South Africa for more than 15 years after a small hiatus, this is a huge milestone, underlining the fact that its cars are finding huge favour among local buyers. Of course, they don’t have the brand cache of Toyota and Volkswagen, but to end a sales year among the top three – seeing off established players like Ford and Nissan – is a reason for celebration.
Yet, despite the supply-and-demand challenges faced by Suzuki South Africa last year, the team running the ship did all it could to keep customers happy, and customers are patient.
Henno Havenga, manager for Auto Dealer Sales at Suzuki Auto South Africa, said: “There is significant pent-up demand from customers and dealers, and we will make every effort to catch up.
“We are heartened to see customers patiently waiting for their new cars, rather than shop elsewhere. Our research and the feedback from our dealer network show that Suzuki owners, once part of the family, are willing to wait for their Suzukis.
“We do not take this for granted and have invested significantly in our head office capacity and dealer network to make sure that we maintain the level of service that has made our customers so loyal.”
This thing with Toyota
Yet, while Suzuki SA is celebrating its 2022 achievements, there can be no denying that Toyota’s local arm is benefitting greatly from an agreement stemming from the two brands’ boardrooms. A few years ago, Toyota and Suzuki entered a partnership, with the two brands sharing vehicles and rebadging it.
For Toyota SA, they were super successful in rebadging several Suzuki products, outselling the original vehicles by quite some margin.
READ: Five doors make popular Suzuki Jimny even more epic!
The Suzuki Baleno, for example, didn’t make such a significant impression on the market, but sales increased with the launch of the Toyota Starlet. But the kicker: where the Starlet would sell close to 1 000 units per month, the Baleno would only muster 200.
The rebadged Suzukis are more successful from a sales perspective than the original cars, yet the originals are more affordable and with more features.
And what’s more, Toyota will launch several new vehicles in 2023 – with some being rebadged Suzukis.
Should Suzuki be concerned?
In all honesty, Suzuki Auto South Africa would probably not be too disheartened by the vast sales difference between it and Toyota South Africa. Their rivals have been doing service in South Africa for many years, carving out a following that no other brand can mimic.
Yet, while this is the case, Suzuki SA itself is more popular than it’s ever been. More customers are gravitating toward them and the linkage with Toyota stirs the perception that the products are of good quality – which it is, and customers are finding this out first-hand.
A sales increase of 71% is massive for anyone, and it is the biggest jump by any automaker who did duty in South Africa last year.
It says something. In fact, it says a lot.
