- Ceremony recognises the efforts of Suzuki dealerships
- Outstanding individual achievements also acknowledged
- Dealers and staff intrinsic to Suzuki’s stellar sales success
Suzuki Kenilworth in Cape Town claimed top honours for the second year running at the annual Suzuki Dealer Conference and Awards.
The Suzuki Kenilworth team won the prestigious award at a gala event held at Johannesburg’s @Sandton Hotel on June 25. This competition recognises the exploits of South Africa’s top performing Suzuki dealerships as well as the people that drive them: everyone from the Suzuki dealer sales, service and parts teams. If you’re in the business of selling and maintaining Suzuki products, this is the one award you want in your trophy cabinet.
This year’s ceremony was hosted under the title ‘Suzukinetic,’ a concept that explores the Japanese brand’s science of working together and one that highlights the importance of collaboration: the chemistry between dealership and driver, people and purpose. It’s a particularly salient manifesto and one that in part contributed to Suzuki Auto South Africa in March concluding its 2024/2025 financial year with 62,750 new vehicle sales – a figure that eclipses its previous record by 10,781 units.
“We’re incredibly grateful for the strong start to the year we’ve experienced at Suzuki Auto South Africa, and much of that success is thanks to the hard work and continued commitment of our dealer network. In April alone, they achieved a combined 5,015 sales – our highest monthly total since opening our doors in 2008,” says Henno Havenga, GM of Auto Sales and Marketing at Suzuki Auto South Africa.
“Our dealers and their staff are the ones engaging with customers every day and representing the Suzuki brand with genuine pride, passion and care. While we’re proud to offer a line-up of reliable, well-priced vehicles that resonate with value-driven South African consumers, it’s our people who bring the brand to life.” “That’s why we place such importance on our Dealer Conference and Awards. They’re our way of acknowledging the consistent dedication of our 117 dealers across South and Southern Africa. Our record-breaking sales figures wouldn’t stand without them.”
Before announcing the top honour, Suzuki Auto South Africa acknowledged the dealers and individuals who went above and beyond, surpassing the already high standards set by their fellow performers.
Platinum and Elite Dealers
Leading the recognition list are the recipients of Suzuki’s Platinum Award. These dealerships consistently achieve strong results across various performance areas, such as customer service, parts availability, new vehicle sales assistance and the backing of an efficient finance and insurance team.
This year’s Platinum Award honourees are:
- Suzuki Brits
- Suzuki Bassonia
- Suzuki Edenvale
- Suzuki Vredenburg
- Suzuki Helderberg
- Suzuki Stellenbosch
- Suzuki Malmesbury
- Suzuki Boksburg
- Suzuki Northcliff
- Suzuki Rustenburg
- Suzuki JHB South
- Suzuki Potchefstroom
- Suzuki Kokstad
- Suzuki Bethlehem
- Suzuki Upington
- Suzuki East London
- Suzuki Clearwater
- Suzuki Montana
- Suzuki Kimberley
- Suzuki Menlyn
- Suzuki Port Elizabeth
- Suzuki Paarl
- Suzuki Klerksdorp
Although the Platinum Dealers represent an exceptional standard, there is an even more distinguished group that has raised the bar further. These are Suzuki’s Elite Award winners – dealerships that have delivered top-tier performance across every service and sales category.
This year’s Elite Award recipients are:
- Suzuki Gezina
- Suzuki Kenilworth
- Suzuki Alberton
- Suzuki West Rand
- Suzuki Rivonia
- Suzuki Rivonia
- Suzuki N1 City
- Suzuki Fourways
Top performing individuals
Suzuki also recognises outstanding individual achievement with a dedicated set of awards for top performers across the different service categories.
This year, Zaynul Mohamed of Suzuki Umhlanga was named Top Technician, while Taki Kipreos of Suzuki Mossel Bay earned the title of Top Parts Manager. Clair van der Merwe of Suzuki Bassonia and Izan Nieuwoudt of Suzuki N1 City shared honours as Top Sales Manager. Billy Bridge of Suzuki Durban South was recognised as Service Manager of the Year.
Highest sales
Before naming its Dealers of the Year, Suzuki Auto South Africa first recognised the individual dealerships and dealer groups with the highest sales performance.
The top three dealerships by sales volume were Suzuki JHB South in third place, Suzuki Boksburg in second and Suzuki Bassonia in first.
Among dealer groups, the IPOP Group – which includes standout performers like Suzuki Bassonia and Suzuki West Rand – emerged as the top-selling group overall.
Dealers of the Year
Moving on to the overall awards, Suzuki Auto South Africa announced the top-performing dealers in each category.
Suzuki Vredenburg, located on the West Coast of the Western Cape, was named Rural Dealer of the Year. Suzuki Brits earned the title of Small Dealer of the Year, while Suzuki Kenilworth was recognised as the top performer in the Medium category. Suzuki Gezina claimed the award for Large Dealer of the Year.
And finally, after much anticipation, Suzuki Kenilworth in Cape Town returned to the stage to receive the highest honour – the title of Suzuki’s 2024 Dealer of the Year.
“We’re honoured to celebrate so many of our dealers at this year’s awards ceremony. Their dedication and resilience, especially in a difficult market filled with challenges and uncertainty, deserve our full recognition. We take great pride in our dealer network and hope to see it continue to expand in the months ahead,” says Havenga.
“To conclude, we believe the key to long-term growth is creating what we call Suzuki Lifetime Customers – individuals who feel a connection with the brand throughout their entire ownership journey. That means going beyond the initial sale to deliver exceptional service, value, and engagement at every touchpoint. We’re working with our dealer network to align our systems, people and processes around this vision, ensuring that the customer is always at the centre. Profitability will follow naturally when we focus on building lasting relationships grounded in consistency and care.”
