UK-based new and used car surveys have given Suzuki models glowing accolades.
The brand received a thumbs-up in the 2019 British 'What Car?' reliability survey. Suzuki's marque five-door Celerio hatchback won the City and Small car class with owners reporting 98.9 per cent reliability over a five year period.
This was well ahead of the 94.7 per cent average reliability for the category.
The findings were the result of a survey of 18,000 vehicle owners asked to report on the running of their cars for five years from new – as well as a separate poll of the owners of cars more than five years old.
Of the 31 brands measured, Suzuki ranked third in new cars with a score of 97.3 per cent while for cars aged over five years it ranked second with a 92 per cent reliability rating.
Although a modest seller in New Zealand, the Celerio has attracted seven per cent more buyers here for the January-August period compared to the same eight months last year.
With an overall length of just 3.6m, the fuel efficient Celerio is the smallest Suzuki model sold in New Zealand. Despite this it still has generous interior space with a high seating position and good visibility.
The 'What Car?' survey also rated the Suzuki Vitara highly, with the popular and versatile compact five-door vehicle scoring 97.6 per cent in the small SUV category. This was comfortably ahead of the 93.3 per cent average for the class.
'What Car?' editor Steve Huntingford said: "Long-term dependability is important for used car buyers and anyone wanting to keep their car for a long time. Suzuki is one of the few brands whose cars remain persistently reliable as the years pile on."
Another UK survey, the Institute of Customer Service's UK Customer Satisfaction Index, recently ranked Suzuki the best car brand. The survey asked 45,000 car owners to rate their experience – and Suzuki came out on top of 24 motor vehicle manufacturers.
It scored strongly in several of the index categories including experience, customer ethos, emotional connection and ethics.
And in yet another survey conducted by Warranty Direct in Britain, the number of problems Suzuki owners face were reported to be well below the motor industry average, with the Suzuki Jimny and Vitara being ranked the second and third most reliable SUVs.
Warranty Direct indicated many Suzuki Swift owners have given the popular model full marks for dependability while another independent site, CarBuyer UK, said the Vitara "feels built to last". It reported that owners were happy with running costs, acceleration, handling and rear-seat legroom.
Total new SUV sales in New Zealand year-to-date are slightly down on the same period in 2018, but local Jimny sales are up 16.4 per cent (spurred on by the arrival of the new generation model) while Vitara sales have risen 1.5 per cent.
In 2017 Suzuki was deemed the most reliable car in New Zealand according to the Consumer New Zealand automotive survey while in last year's 'What Car?' reliability survey it was the top-ranked brand at 97.7 per cent followed by Lexus (97.5 per cent) and Toyota (96.8 per cent).
For further information contact the Suzuki New Zealand Automotive marketing team at:
adminmv@suzuki.co.nz