Suzuki. “We have sealed a partnership with our dealers”

The argument. This year, Suzuki climbed to first place in the Manufacturers' Rating of Love. What are the reasons for this success in your opinion?Stéphane Magnin, commercial director of Suzuki France. It's a bit hard to say because we are rated by our partners. But I believe that we have sealed a real partnership with our dealers. I think they welcome the closeness that we have with them and which has been strengthened with the health crisis. During this period, we have implemented several things in association with them. There is also the attractiveness of our 100% hybrid range which comes into play, as does the simplicity in our relations with our dealers or the efficiency of our commercial policies. And then our multi-layered compensation policy is simple. We measure the customer satisfaction index, but remuneration is not conditional on it. We are here to make things better together. When things are not going well at a dealership, we provide training, for example. We also maintain a close relationship with our sales forces, thanks in particular to our annual gathering which allows us to meet and discuss. I would also say that there is not a lot of administration, since at Suzuki France headquarters only about forty people are dedicated to the sale and after-sales of the automotive part. In the dealerships, we therefore do not need to have a person dedicated to administrative management with the manufacturer. All this can be seen on the endurance podium because, on the average of the last six years, we are the third manufacturer. This podium is at least as important because it recognizes substantive work. READ. Builders love rating. The winners of the 2021 edition What are your areas for improvement? The rating for our after-sales communication plans has dropped slightly. We were very imaginative during the Covid period, for example by extending assistance to the entire fleet, regardless of the age of the car. Because, for us, someone who has to ride during confinement is essential to society. Then we returned to more traditional after-sales campaigns. So maybe some changes need to be made. This is also the case in the sale of used vehicles, where we barely obtained the average, even if it is not a real problem for us because we generate very little. READ. Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Suzuki... all future Japanese How is your distribution network doing? Will it be profitable in 2021? Today, there are 207 Suzuki sales outlets for 173 contracts and 143 investors. The network is therefore not very concentrated and the loyalty rate is high, which explains our good relations. There are only a few free areas left today, located in Yvelines, Essonne, Nantes and Bordeaux. In the first half of 2021, the network posted an average profitability of around 1.45%. With the fall in volumes due to the shortage of semiconductors, we expect it to hover around 1.2% at the end of the year. READ. The thousand and one lives of SuzukiIn the first ten months of the year, Suzuki registered 19,235 cars in France (+ 14.7%), almost as many as for the whole of the 2020 financial year (19,654 registrations) , which allows you to obtain a market share of 1.39% against 1.2% in 2020. Is this in line with your objectives? Our objectives were to remain around 1.4% of market share and, if possible, to progress. In a falling market, we had a good stock level, which enabled us to get through this supply crisis rather well over the first nine months of the year. But then it starts to fall again. Our ambition is to stay between 1.4 and 1.5% market share this year, but also in the long term. We had planned to sell 26,000 to 27,000 units this year, we will rather be at 24,000 units, including around 2,500 Jimny VUs, which are important for the profitability of the network. READ. Cote d'amour 2021. New vehicle activity seen by distributorsAre you affected by the shortage of semiconductors? What are the current delivery times? The production of our Japanese factories has been disrupted since August, and we are suffering the consequences today since it takes three months of logistics between Japan and Europe. Supply difficulties will be greatest between November 2021 and at least April 2022 as there are still production cuts expected in December. Our factory in Hungary, which will assemble the Vitara and S-Cross, has also experienced supply difficulties for a certain number of parts arriving by container, but this will be resolved more easily. There is still some stock in the dealership, but it is becoming scarce and delivery times are reaching five to six months. READ. Cote d'amour 2021. The second-hand business seen by Suzuki dealers is traditionally strong in the retail channel. Is this a source of satisfaction for you? How do you explain your drop on this channel in 2021 (64.9% at the end of October against 72% in 2020)? This remains very high despite everything! We have never made tactical sales, especially to short-term rental companies. We didn't want to make any, even though we made a few this year at the request of certain dealers. Our network has therefore focused a great deal on individuals. It's been like that since Suzuki arrived in France in 1992, where we sold more than 420,000 cars. Today, we are going to look for growth drivers in B2B and the liberal professions. Thanks to our hybrid engines, we are starting to enter the fleets. It is a long process that occupies a dedicated specialist at headquarters. For example, we won a contract with the ONF with the four-wheel drive Ignis. We are going to deliver 150 this year. Car-sharing company Citiz also takes quite a bit of Swift from us. We have to continue because it is a real growth driver. READ. Warranty support. The most generous manufacturers What are your objectives for the French market in 2022? It will be a year rich in product releases, with in particular a new S-Cross which will be launched at the start of the year. We are getting ready to get 27,000 cars and do everything to maintain a market share of 1.4 or 1.5%. But that will depend on how we get out of the semiconductor crisis. READ. Spare parts. Deadlines and prices: ranking by brand What will be the highlights in the coming months? We have a partnership with a sled dog race in the Alps in January, called the Grande Odyssée. We will take this opportunity to present the new S-Cross to the press. Then the Vitara plug-in hybrid will be launched in April or May. And then we will try to obtain maximum production from the factories for the Swift and Ignis, which are our two flagships and represent 45% of our sales in France.

Suzuki in the 2021 Manufacturers' Love Rating

Overall average rating: 7.59/10 (7.07/10 in 2020) Overall ranking: ^1st (3rd ⁱⁿ 2020) Long-term average rating: 6.54/10 over six years (3rd ⁱⁿ the ranking) Sales ranking VN ^: 2nd with 8.5/10 Approved repairer ranking: ^1st with 8.26/10 Spare parts distribution ranking: ^1st with 7.44/10 Used ^vehicle sales ranking: 13th with 4.38/10 Financing ranking : ^1st with 8.86/10 Marketing ranking: ^1st with 7.61/10 Profitability satisfaction: ^1st with 7.77/10 Objective calculation method: considered transparent for 85% of dealers

Suzuki on the French market (10 months 2021)

19,235 registrations (+14.7% compared to 2020) 1.39% market share (1.2% in 2020) 64.9% sales to individuals (72% in 2020 ⁾ 20th brand on the market ( 19th ⁱⁿ 2020)