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What a year to be a Suzuki dealer! And what a year to be a customer of one of Suzuki’s growing network of dealers, who not only outperformed every metric for quality of sales and service support, but also made Suzuki the third most popular vehicle brand in September.
Suzuki Auto South Africa celebrated its incredible performance in the past year during the week at its national dealer conference. The event ended with a special ceremony to recognise its top performing dealers.
Awards were handed to the best performing dealers in various categories, including sales, after-sales, Mobility Finance and parts supply, culminating in the Dealer of the Year 2020 Award. This special award was handed to Suzuki Rustenburg.
“Last year, Suzuki Rustenburg best personified the spirit that all our dealers have shown. Our dealers have helped Suzuki grow its annual sales by 9% in fiscal year 2020, while the market contracted by a massive 26%,” says Yukio Sato, the Managing Director of Suzuki Auto South Africa.
“While much can be said about our range of reliable and affordable Suzuki cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles, we cannot discount the hard work that our dealer network has invested in making this brand a success,” says Sato san.
“Each of our 75 dealers went well beyond the call of duty to serve customers during the various lockdown levels and to help the many future Suzuki customers who are on the waiting list for their Jimny, Swift or other model.”
Before Suzuki Rustenburg was called to the stage to receive the highest award, several other dealers were honoured for their achievements in various categories. These included Best Practice – Sales (Suzuki Welkom), Best Practice – Service (Suzuki Centurion) and Best Practice – Parts (again Centurion).
Suzuki Centurion is the 2019 Dealer of the Year, and last night it also won awards for best customer satisfaction and top large dealer. It was also counted among 11 dealers who received an Elite Dealer Award.
A few years ago, Suzuki started awarding dealers who had a very high average score across all categories, including parts availability, sales and service support, Mobility Finance support and overall customer service. These dealers all received Platinum Awards.
For the 2020 fiscal year, no fewer than 13 dealers received Platinum Awards.
Soon after introducing the Platinum Award, the average performance of a Suzuki dealer was such that Suzuki introduced an ever-higher award – the Elite Dealer Award – which this year had 11 recipients.
“It is incredible to consider that a third of all of our dealers received Platinum or Elite Dealer Awards and that the average service level of a Suzuki dealer in South Africa is now higher than that of the winning dealer in our first year in South Africa just over a decade ago,” says Sato san.
While the overall crown went to Suzuki Rustenburg, Suzuki also picked its top dealer in each of their operating categories.
Suzuki Queenstown was again picked as the Top Rural Dealer, and Suzuki Klerksdorp was the best Small Dealer. Suzuki Helderberg was the Top Medium Dealer and Suzuki Centurion received the award as Top Large Dealer.
Other significant awards handed out during the night, include the Dealer to Watch – Suzuki Cape Town, the Most Improved Dealer – Suzuki Upington, and the Dealer Group with the Most Sales – Penta Motor Group. Suzuki Menlyn was recognised as the Top Selling individual dealer, and Suzuki Piet Retief again had the best market share in its area.
Suzuki Auto also recognised individuals for their contribution to their dealers and the brand’s success. Owen Adams from Suzuki Helderberg is the Technician of the Year, Rico Raath of Suzuki Centurion was the Service Manager of the Year, Odette Allers of Suzuki Queenstown, the Best Parts Manager for a second year in a row, and Daryl Naidoo of Suzuki Zululand was the best Sales Manager.
“We themed this year’s Dealer Conference ‘Let’s Go Again’ in recognition of the incredible work that our dealers have done in the past year and as encouragement to them to keep up the sales momentum. With more new models in the pipeline and widespread recognition of our safety and quality credentials, I do not doubt that our dealers will welcome even more customers to the Suzuki family in the new year,” says Sato san.
WINNERS 2020/2021
Elite Dealer Awards:
Elite Dealer Award
Suzuki Centurion
Elite Dealer Award
Suzuki Klerksdorp
Elite Dealer Award
Suzuki Rustenburg
Elite Dealer Award
Suzuki Montana
Elite Dealer Award
Suzuki Menlyn
Elite Dealer Award
Suzuki Bramley
Elite Dealer Award
Suzuki Northcliff
Elite Dealer Award
Suzuki Bryanston
Elite Dealer Award
Suzuki Tableview
Elite Dealer Award
Suzuki Kyalami
Elite Dealer Award
Suzuki Alberton
Platinum Awards:
Platinum Dealer award
Suzuki Helderberg
Platinum Dealer award
Suzuki Tygervalley
Platinum Dealer award
Suzuki Queenstown
Platinum Dealer award
Suzuki West Rand
Platinum Dealer award
Suzuki Kenilworth
Platinum Dealer award
Suzuki Stellenbosch
Platinum Dealer award
Suzuki Ipop South
Platinum Dealer award
Suzuki Welkom
Platinum Dealer award
Suzuki Bassonia
Platinum Dealer award
Suzuki George
Platinum Dealer award
Suzuki Port Elizabeth
Platinum Dealer award
Suzuki Boksburg
Platinum Dealer award
Suzuki Hatfield
Best Practice Sales:
Best practice – Sales (Period April – June 2020)
Suzuki Stellenbosch
Best practice – Sales (Period July – September 2020)
Suzuki Witbank
Best practice – Sales (Period October – December 2020)
Suzuki Piet Retief
Best practice – Sales (Period January – March 2021)
Suzuki Manzini
Overall best Practice – Sales (Period April 2020 – March 2021)
Suzuki Welkom
Best Practice Service:
Best practice – Service (Period April – June 2020
Suzuki Montana
Best practice – Service (Period July – September 2020)
Suzuki Centurion
Best practice – Service (Period October – December 2020)
Suzuki Centurion
Best practice – Service (Period January – March 2021)
Suzuki Kenilworth
Overall best Practice – Service (Period April 2020 – March 2021)
Suzuki Centurion
Best Practice Parts:
Best practice – Parts (Period April – June 2020
Suzuki Centurion
Best practice – Parts (Period July – September 2020)
Suzuki Queenstown
Best practice – Parts (Period October – December 2020)
Suzuki Umhlanga
Best practice – Parts (Period January – March 2021)
Suzuki Centurion
Overall best Practice – Parts (Period April 2020 – March 2021)
Suzuki Centurion
Best SSI (Service Satisfaction Index)
Suzuki Klerksdorp
Best CSI (Customer Satisfaction Index)
Suzuki Centurion
Dealer to Watch
Suzuki Cape Town
Above 1000 Unit Sales for the Year
Ipop Motor Group
Above 1000 Unit Sales for the Year
Penta Motor Group
Above 1000 Unit Sales for the Year
Trust Auto Group
Top Sales Volume Group
Penta Motor Group
Top Sales Volume Dealer
Suzuki Menlyn
Best Market Share Dealer 2020
Suzuki Piet Retief
Most Improved Dealer
Suzuki Upington
Technician of the Year
Owen Adams – Suzuki Helderberg
Parts Manager of the Year
Odette Allers – Suzuki Queenstown
Service Manager of the Year
Rico Raath – Suzuki Centurion
Sales Manager of the Year
Daryl Naidoo – Suzuki Zululand
Mobility Finance Support:
Rural Dealer Category
Gold
SUZUKI QUEENSTOWN
Small Dealer Category:
Gold
SUZUKI KLERKSDORP
Medium Dealer Category:
Gold
SUZUKI WEST RAND
Large Dealer Category:
Gold
SUZUKI MENLYN
Overall Mobility Finance Support Winner
SUZUKI MENLYN
Top Large Category Dealer 2020
SUZUKI CENTURION
Top Medium Category Dealer 2020
SUZUKI HELDERBERG
Top Small Category Dealer 2020
SUZUKI KLERKSDORP
Top Rural Category Dealer 2020
SUZUKI QUEENSTOWN
Overall Dealer of the Year 2020
SUZUKI RUSTENBURG
