Suzuki Strategy Yields Record Results

SHIZUOKA, JAPAN – Apr 24, 2012: Suzuki Motor Corporation has announced record sales results in China.

The company sold just over 300,000 Suzuki automobiles, in addition to 950,000 Suzuki motorcycles.

Suzuki has a long history in China, establishing Changan Suzuki with Changan Automobile Co., Ltd. in 1993. The joint venture has been producing and distributing numerous vehicles for nearly 20 years, including the Cultus, Swift, and SX4.

The strong sales result comes as the company plans to expand its dealer network in China from the current 1,200 dealers to more than 1,500 in the next two years.

The dealer development will match the company’s investment in manufacturing, with construction beginning on a second manufacturing plant.

Changan Suzuki’s current plant in Banan District, Chongqing has an annual production capacity of just over 250,000 units.

The addition of the second plant will double annual capacity to more than 500,000 units by 2014, and meet the growing demand for Suzuki products in China.

Suzuki is confident of generating annual sales of at least 500,000 units in China by 2017.

The Chinese outlay is matched by further investment in the region with cars already rolling off the line from the new Thailand plant and expansion of the company’s Indonesian operation.

Located in Rayong Province, the Thai plant already employs nearly 500 people. It currently only produces Swift for local consumption, but has capacity to expand and provide another export hub.

Suzuki has purchased another 1.3 million square metre site to expand its manufacturing base in Indonesia.

Suzuki currently has two plants in Indonesia with an annual production capacity of one million motorcycles and 80,000 automobiles for the domestic market, including SX4 and APV.

Expansion continues in India as well, with Maruti-Suzuki scaling up its burgeoning R&D infrastructure.

Work has commenced on a new research and development centre and proving ground at Rohtak. Spread over an area of 600 acres, it represents an investment of more than 450 million dollars.

The R&D facility will be matched by the construction of a new motorcycle plant on the same site. When it opens in 2014 it will increase production of Suzuki motorcycles from 350,000 units to 500,000.

The strong sales results in China and India maintain the company’s optimistic outlook, with financial analysts predicting a net profit of just over 600 million US dollars for the 2011-12 Japanese Fiscal Year.

It will maintain a run of profitability for SMC stretching back to 1950; a record unmatched by any other automotive company.