SWIFT SUCCESS IN INDIA
The Indian specification Swift model which is produced and sold for its domestic market has recently won Indian Car of The Year (ICOTY) 2019 which is the most prestigious auto award in India. The Swift was first introduced in India in 2005 and is the only model to win Indian Car Of The Year in each generation. The first Swift won ICOTY in 2006 and the second won it in 2012.
Introduced last year, the third generation Swift is much favoured in India as a premium hatchback with sporty styling, superb driving performance and good user friendliness. It is produced for the Indian market by Suzuki’s manufacturing subsidiary, Suzuki Motor Gujarat Private limited and sold by Maruti Suzuki India Limited.
Since Suzuki launched the Swift in India, more than two million units have been sold and at launch in June last year, it was the fastest to reach sales of 100,000 units, achieved in just 145 days with domestic production subsequently increased to meet demand.
Maruti Suzuki has a current domestic market share in India of around 50 per cent and reached 54 per cent in November 2018. 119,000 units were sold in December and over the period between April and September 2018, more than 919,000 Suzuki cars were manufactured and sold there.
STRONG SALES IN JAPAN
Suzuki Motor Corporation has recently announced some good news on its own Domestic sales too with a total of 663,118 units sold between January and November 2018. This represents 107 per cent year-on-year and an increase in volumes for the eighth consecutive month. 544,895 of these were in the Minivehicle or Kei car class whereby cars need to have an overall length of 3.4 metres or less, a width of 1.48 metres or less and a maximum 660cc engine capacity.
Sales of larger Suzuki models on sale in Japan also flourished and volumes were up for the 15th consecutive month at 116 per cent year-on-year. Suzuki is currently the second largest Automotive brand in Japan with a market share of 14.1 per cent and is the eighth largest car brand in the world.
UK SALES FOR 2018 AND LATEST ATTRACTIVE FINANCE OFFERS
Suzuki GB PLC is pleased to announce another very strong year for sales in the UK which reached 38,519 units in 2018 and is Suzuki’s second highest recorded annual volume. The Vitara remained the best-selling model in the range at 12,525 units with Swift in second place at 10,583 units and with Ignis finishing the year at 6,065. Suzuki also increased its market share to 1.63 per cent which is the highest ever in a calendar year.
Commenting on the success, Director of Automobile, Dale Wyatt said: “We are all really pleased to report our full year success story in the UK which is another very positive result despite economic uncertainty and a challenging new car market. I would personally like to thank our 157-strong dealer network for their sterling efforts during 2018 and we look forward to working with them in the busy year ahead”
The eagerly awaited all-new Jimny compact SUV went on sale this week together with the 2019 model Vitara which is now available with 1.0 and 1.4-litre Boosterjet engines. The revised Vitara range has an increased standard specification and even higher levels of safety equipment and technology.
An attractive range of customer saving and PCP (Personal Contract Purchase) options are available until the end of March with several models available for a very low initial deposit. Taking Ignis SZ3 1.2-litre Dualjet as an example including the current customer saving of £1,350, a deposit of £150 is all that’s required followed by 48 monthly payments of £151 and an optional final payment of £5,263 to keep the car at the end of the agreement.
Additionally, all Swift models (except 1.4-litre Sport) as well as the full Vitara range are available throughout Quarter 1 of 2019 with Zero per cent APR. As an example, Swift SZ3 1.2-litre Dualjet is available over a similar 48 month PCP agreement. It requires a deposit of just £156 followed by monthly payments of £156 and a final optional payment of £4,836 to keep the car.
Moving up the range to the Baleno SZ3 1.2-litre Dualjet with £1,750 customer saving currently offered, a deposit of £198 is required followed by 48 monthly payments of £198 with an optional final payment of £3,896.