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Suzuki Philippines celebrates positive H1 2018 sales

Ertiga still holds the most sales under Suzuki Philippines.

Autodeal on Aug 03, 2018

Suzuki Philippines (SPH) is having a great day today, as it proudly closes the first half (H1) of 2018 with a 6 percent sales growth compared to H1 2017. This is all thanks to the company's aggressive marketing and expansion initiatives over the past months.

Quite impressive actually, as SPH was able to survive and cope up to the effects of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law. This success was also despite the overall decline of the local automotive market this year, which also reflected on Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors, Inc.'s (AVID) report. Good job for SPH, it secured the seventh rank in the market following this performance.

“The implementation of the TRAIN Law challenged the whole automotive industry, which led us to undertake concrete steps to make sure the Suzuki brand stays relevant and maintain its strong performance. We are humbled to see our hard work paying off, allowing us to close the first half of the year with back-to-back successes. These accomplishments inspire and embolden our team even more to push forward to achieve our goals for the rest of the year.”

Shuzo Hoshikura
Suzuki Philippines Vice President and General Manager for Automobile

SPH's H1 2018 success wouldn't be possible if not because of the consistent performance of the Ertiga, Celerio, Vitara, and Ciaz. These four models are responsible for more than 70 percent of the entire H1 2018 sales and have been showing potential since the first quarter of this year.

The Suzuki Ertiga still sits as the brand's best-selling vehicle in this year's lineup, as it was able to secure 33 percent share of sales. This is followed by the Celerio and Vitara with 14 percent and 13 percent shares, respectively. These two variants are SPH's gemstones due to the awards attached to their nameplates. The Celerio received Auto Focus People's Choice Awards' (AFMCA) Value-for-Money award in the mini category, while the Vitara is the 2017 CAGI Car of the Year of the subcompact crossover category.

Apart from the said models, SPH firmly believes that this could even get better, now that the new Dzire and Swift are already in the market. With new looks and toys like the Auto Gear Shift (AGS), which makes it possible to manually shift without having the need of a clutch pedal, the subcompact hatchback and sedan segment are up for tight contenders.

Currently, there are 71 Suzuki dealerships nationwide, which includes the two new outlets in Calamba, Laguna and Calasiao, Pangasinan.