Dealership awarded sales trophy

It's been in their sights for a decade and now Whanganui's Suzuki dealership David Jones Motors can tick off another target.

The firm has picked up the 2105 Suzuki Excellence in Sales award which is judged on sales achieved by dealers across the country.

Gareth Jones, the dealership principal, said they had been "chasing" this title for 10 years so to finally win it was very satisfying.

"We've always been coming second or third and it was always being awarded to the Blenheim dealership which is the longest standing dealer in our particular sector," he said.

The judging is on sales across three sectors, metropolitan, provincial and rural. David Jones Motors is one of the 10 "rural" dealerships.

Mr Jones said the award is based on sales across the 2015 year and the trophy was awarded at a Suzuki dealers' conference last month.

"We sold 135 Suzuki passenger cars in that year. The Vitara and Swift were the high achievers for us."

He said the industry was enjoying a buoyant phase at the moment but the award was something special for the dealership.

"This year we're tracking much the same as last year so that's very pleasing."

He puts the success down to two things - great staff and a product to match.

"We've got a great team here and we all get on really well. We pride ourselves on that," Mr Jones said.