Suzuki rewards top-performing dealerships

SUZUKI Australia has used the dealer principal reveal of the Swift Sport warm hatch to also honour its highest-performing retailers from across the country with Dealer Excellence Awards.

Top honours went to Mandurah Suzuki in Western Australia who took out the Suzuki Dealer of the Year award for the second year running.

Suzuki Australia general manager for automobiles Michael Pachota said the decision to crown Mandurah Suzuki was a difficult one due to the stiff competition.

“It was hard to separate the best of the best due to the fantastic performance of the Excellence Award winners this year,” he said.

“However, tipping the charts again, Mandurah Suzuki took the win as a result of their impeccable sales, parts and service operations ranking top positions across customer satisfaction and retention tables consistently in 2017 – making it clear, they are the Suzuki Dealer of the Year.”

The Suzuki Dealer Excellence Awards determine individual dealer performance across areas such as facility standards, sales to target and sales rankings, market share, customer satisfaction index (CSI) for service and sales, service retention, accessory sales per new vehicle, and parts sales.

Twelve dealers received excellence awards with New South Wales the most represented state accounting for four dealerships – Kloster Suzuki, Tynan Suzuki, Peter Warren Suzuki in Warwick Farm and Macarthur Suzuki in Narellan.

Western Australia was next best with three representatives, consisting of Rockingham Suzuki and Gardner Suzuki in Cannington to go with the overall winner Mandurah Suzuki.

Other winners included Suzuki in the City and Southside Suzuki in Adelaide, Jackson Suzuki Hobart and Jackson Suzuki Launceston in Tasmania, and Booran Suzuki in Dandenong, Victoria.

The event was attended by Suzuki executives from Japan, as well as notable figures including TV personalities Mark Beretta and Sherri-Lee Biggs, Australian Superbike champion and Suzuki ambassador Josh Waters and Melbourne Storm personnel including coach Craig Bellamy and players Tim Glasby, Jesse Bromwich, Dale Finucane and Christian Welch.

Suzuki Australia in 2017 experienced almost identical sales figures to 2016, dipping 1.2 per cent from 19,495 sales to 19,256.

Its best-selling vehicle was the Swift light hatch with 6511 units sold, however sales were down 22.2 per cent despite the new-generation version arriving in showrooms halfway through the year.

In its first year on sale, the Ignis compact crossover managed 2406 sales to be the fourth-best seller for the Japanese brand, behind the Vitara (5805) and Baleno (2592).

Suzuki Australia has said that it plans to break the 20,000 yearly sales barrier in 2018, which would be the first time it has achieved such numbers since 2013.