It’s hard to believe but we’ve already gone way past the halfway mark of 2018. Yes, with the Ber months fast approaching, companies like Suzuki Philippines are happy to report that it is doing quite well in terms of sales performance.
The Japanese compact carmaker says that despite the 12 percent decline in total industry sales due to factors such as the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion or TRAIN Law that was implemented recently, it has managed to post a 6 percent sales growth for the first 6 months of the year. Taxes leading to higher vehicle prices notwithstanding, Filipinos still bought their fair share of Suzuki vehicles.
The sales growth can be attributed to the strong showing of the Ertiaga, Celerio, Vitara, and Ciaz. All four models came together to make up for 70 percent of Suzuki’s first half sales. The 7-seat Ertiga led the way, taking up 33 percent of total sales. The Celerio and Vitara made up for 14 and 13 percent of sales, respectively. Rounding out the list of performers was the subcompact Ciaz.
Apart from vehicle sales, Suzuki was likewise aggressive in reaching out to more Filipinos via the opening of new dealerships. Suzuki Calamba in Laguna and Suzuki Calasiao in Pangasinan were just two among the four new dealerships that opened this year. This brings the total number of sales and service facilities to 71, scattered throughout the archipelago.
But as we all know, there are still a few months left for the year. This means more new product launches as well as new dealerships to be inaugurated. The unveiling of the Dzire and Swift a couple of months ago were but a foretaste of what is to come in the next few months. And with the way things are going, we can expect even more exciting things from Suzuki as we finish off the remainder of 2018.
