Suzuki Auto South Africa has announced that it has placed a general freeze on all vehicle prices and that it will not participate in the customary fourth quarter industry price hikes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether one looks at the Consumer Confidence Index or at general economic growth, it is clear that consumers are feeling the pinch. With that in mind, we decided to squeeze as much value into our price and warranty offering as possible,\u201d said Andr\u00e9 Venter, divisional head for sales and marketing at Suzuki.<\/p>\n
Most vehicle manufacturers customarily raise vehicle prices by between 0.5% and 2% in the affordable vehicle segments from October onwards.<\/p>\n
Suzuki\u2019s announcement kicks off the fourth quarter on a positive note, after three quarters of strong sales growth and positive market feedback.<\/p>\n
September 2017\u2019s aggregate new vehicle sales in South Africa came in at\u00a050,675 units, an encouraging increase of 7.0% year-on-year, according to Naamsa.<\/p>\n
The recent sharp increase in the Reserve Bank\u2019s leading indicator and the improvement in the Purchasing Manager\u2019s Index suggested that further improvement in domestic sales could be expected in the months ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is truly heartening to see our hard work and long-term planning pay dividends in 2017,\u201d said Venter.<\/p>\n