Japan’s favourite maker of compact cars this week received two significant awards at the CAR Magazine Top 12 Best Buys Awards, which will now take their place on the company mantelpiece next to equally significant awards received at the WesBank / Cars.co.za Consumer Awards in January.

At CAR Magazine’s gala banquet, which also celebrated its 60th birthday and its position as South Africa’s best-selling automotive magazine, Suzuki received CAR Magazine’s nod as the Company to Watch in 2017. This sought-after honour was awarded after significant consideration by CAR Magazine’s panel of judges and it considers both the company’s recent performance and prospects.

CAR Magazine’s Company prize echoes that of the Wesbank / Cars.co.za Consumer Awards, which was held on 19 January this year, where Suzuki walked away with the evening’s top prize as the Brand of the Year. For this award, only customer feedback is considered and Suzuki beat five other brands to the top spot.

Suzuki Wins In Two Categories

As well as receiving the prestigious Brand Of The Year at the Cars.co.za Consumer Awards, Suzuki South Africa took home two category wins with the Suzuki Vitara 1.6 GL+ winning Compact Family Car of the Year and the Suzuki Celerio 1.0 GL winning Budget Car of the Year.

In order to have been eligible for the Compact Family Car award, contenders had to meet the following criteria: a list price of between R250 000 and R350 000 at the time of semi-finalist voting (September 1 2016), including the cost of any of the following features (if they were optional): ABS, electronic stability control, a minimum of four airbags, air-conditioning, split/folding rear seats and a service plan. The most important judging factors were: balance of fuel economy and performance, space and practicality, design and quality appeal, occupant comfort and safety features.

“The Vitara is an excellent all-rounder, with a level of practicality that you’d expect from a bigger SUV, as well as a smooth engine which delivers excellent fuel economy.” — Ciro de Siena, automotive journalist at Cars.co.za.

The Vitara managed to beat strong competition from the likes of the Nissan Qashqai 1.2 Visia and Renault Captur 1.5 dCi Dynamique who took 2nd and 3rd places respectively.

For Compact Car Of The Year entrants had to have a list price of R160 000 or less at the time of semi-finalist voting (September 1, 2016), including the cost of any of the following features (if they were optional): ABS and dual front airbags. The most important judging factors were: fuel economy, value for money, practicality and brand strength.

“Although the Celerio is not the most spacious car in its segment, its standard specification list is long, the engine feels surprisingly perky and Suzuki’s reputation counts for a lot.” — Mike Fourie, Cars.co.za.

Runners-up included the Renault Sandero Expression and Toyota Aygo 1.0 X-Play.

“We are very proud of these overall awards, as it reflects the opinion of industry specialists and the public at large. These awards, as well as the product specific accolades, are very welcome public recognition of recent years’ hard work to improve our model range, pricing and customer service,” says André Venter, divisional manager for sales and marketing at Suzuki Auto South Africa.

Apart from the corporate recognition, the Suzuki Celerio 1.0 GA was singled out as the Best Budget Car by CAR’s panel of judges. It beat two other finalists in the category, which is one of only two categories where specific models are pitted against each other.

Both CAR Magazine Top 12 Best Buys Awards and Wesbank / Cars.co.za Consumer Awards combine professional scoring from journalists and a panel of celebrity judges with a comprehensive consumer survey, which included thousands of questionnaires collected from September 2015 to October 2016.

For the prestigious Brand of the Year was determined solely by the manufacturers’ ratings in the Cars.co.za’s Owner Satisfaction Survey, allied with market share change and resale value statistics per vehicle brand (supplied by Lightstone Auto). This recognition of Suzuki Auto South Africa, parallels the feat achieved by its British counterpart, which was recognised as the “most improved organisation’ in The Institute of Customer Service’s annual UK Customer Satisfaction Index in 2016.

“The recognition we received at these two prestigious awards will set the tone for a busy year for Suzuki in which we further improve our customer service and dealer network and expand our range of products,” says Venter.

See Our Showroom Of New Suzuki Vehicles

2016 SUZUKI SUPER CARRY

The challenge – drive 750 km with a load of 750 kg on R750 worth of fuel with a Suzuki Super Carry.
This challenge, dubbed the #SuperCarry750 challenge, was conceived when the team at Suzuki Auto South Africa decided to test their newest workhorse and help someone in need at the same time.
After some deliberation, the staff at Suzuki decided to help the Hospice in Port Shepstone and the call went out for anyone to contribute. Soon a large load, including a couple of dishwashers and fresh paint, stood ready to be taken to the coastal town.

“We decided that this would be a great test for our new Super Carry workhorse and challenged our team with the following: take the load, now weighing in at exactly 750 kg, to Port Shepstone using only R750 worth of fuel,” explains Charl Grobler, national marketing and product planning manager at Suzuki South Africa.

To make the challenge more fun, the team mapped a route of exactly 750 km from their head office and parts warehouse in Johannesburg to the Hospice in Port Shepstone. They then handed the keys to a Super Carry to Brendon Carpenter, the assistant manager of sales training and development and the volunteering driver, and co-driver Nicole Glover, and they were on their way.
On Wednesday, 17 August, the donation left Johannesburg and was delivered by the team that same afternoon. After the delivery Super Carry covered another 156.2 km on the fuel that the team had bought in Johannesburg for R750, before they decided to refuel.

“The Super Carry was the true hero of this challenge,” says Carpenter. “It soldiered on well beyond the 750 km target and didn’t chicken out at the very last minute like we did. The risk of running out of fuel in the dark on the N2 between Amanzimtoti and who-knows-where didn’t appeal to us. Still, even after we cut the total distance short, the Super Carry managed to achieve an average fuel consumption figure of just 6.7l/100km for the entire trip, with most of the trip completed with a full load. Legendary stuff!”
The new Suzuki Super Carry entered the market in June 2016 as the ideal workhorse for businesses and entrepreneurs looking for a cost effective delivery vehicle. The Super Carry is equipped with a 1.2 litre four-cylinder petrol engine that delivers 54 kW and 101 Nm to its rear wheels through a five-speed manual gearbox.
The Super Carry is sold with a 3-year / 100 000 km mechanical warranty and roadside assistance plan and a 6-year anti-corrosion warranty.

Challenge accepted! Super Carry beats the odds | CMH Suzuki Umhlanga