Suzuki continues to have a strong presence in South Africa, having sold a whopping total of 49,438 new cars in 2023, equating to a market share of just under 10%.
This works out to an average of 4,119 per month over the course of the last year, making Suzuki the third-best-selling brand overall behind Toyota and Volkswagen.
A good year for Suzuki
You can see a breakdown of Suzuki’s sales for each month of 2023 below, as provided by Naamsa’s vehicle sales reports.
- January – 4,357 units
- February – 4,309 units
- March – 3,734 units
- April – 3,620 units
- May – 3,709 units
- June – 4,335 units
- July – 4,361 units
- August – 4,332 units
- September – 4,478 units
- October – 4,480 units
- November – 4,368 units
- December – 3,355 units
While the exact figures naturally vary from month to month, the Swift was easily the automaker’s number-one choice for consumers, with an incredible 15,974 units moved.
This means the Swift accounted for 32.3% of all the vehicles sold by the Japanese manufacturer in South Africa last year, making it the seventh most popular car in the country and the third most picked passenger car after the VW Polo Vivo and Toyota Corolla Cross.
While the Swift was the only model to crack the top 20 in South Africa in 2023, Suzuki’s other vehicles all performed admirably as well.
The Baleno was the runner-up in the Suzuki catalogue for Mzansi motorists in 2023 with 6,004 units sold, the Ertiga MPV sat in third place at 5,150 units, followed by the S-Presso – the most affordable car in the country – with 5,009 units.
It was also a busy year for the company in terms of releases, as it introduced four new vehicles including the Grand Vitara, XL6, Fronx, and Jimny five-door.
The Grand Vitara is the official successor to the fan-favourite Vitara Brezza and is now positioned as the flagship of the automaker’s local stable thanks in no small part to the debut of the brand’s first hybrid option in South Africa.
The XL6 is a more upmarket alternative to the Ertiga for those in need of a car with more than the usual five seats, and the Fronx is a crossover version of the Baleno meant to fill the sub-R300,000 segment following the Brezza’s departure, since the Grand is a much pricier vehicle.
Finally, there was the long-awaited Jimny five-door, adding an appreciated new layer of practicality to the budget 4×4.
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