Following the last day of February, car makers started releasing their sales figures for the month of February. The current trend shows Asian brands setting sales record after sales record. Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi, Kia, and, now, Suzuki has reported that they have sold more vehicles last month compared to the number of vehicles they sold in February of last year. American Suzuki Motor Corporation disclosed that they sold 8,585 units and that figure is the highest number of vehicles that they have sold in Februarys throughout their 22 years of existence.
Although the increase is only one percent, the fact that the company has made sales figure improvement month after month is nothing short of impressive. The record breaking number of vehicles sold for last month follows closely the milestone that the company reached last year. It can be remembered that Suzuki sold more than 100,000 vehicles for the first time last year.
Koichi Suzuki, the President of American Suzuki Automotive Operations, has this to say about the accomplished feat: “We’re excited to see Suzuki’s dynamic automobile sales momentum continue through the first quarter of 2007. In 2006, Suzuki achieved a significant milestone in the U.S. by surpassing 100,000 units in annual sales, and we expect the growing popularity of the XL7 and the SX4 to help us continue to sell Suzuki automobiles at a record pace.†Indeed, that dedication on the part of the leadership team can only benefit the organization and it would perhaps take a Volvo brake system to stop the forward surge of the Japanese car maker.
One of the models in Suzuki’s lineup which played a key role in the setting of a new record for February in terms of sale is the Suzuki XL7. This mid-size crossover sport utility vehicle has captured the attention of the American public. Suzuki sold 2,513 units of the XL7, which is 40 percent better than February 2006’s sales figure at 1,789 units. Another reason for the record breaking February sales number is the fact that the Aerio sedan and the SX4 compact crossover both sold well. Combined, the Aerio and the SX4 posted 1,254 units sold which is 68 percent more than last year’s combined figure of 748 units sold.
While the aforementioned models performed well, some of the models in the lineup of Suzuki countered their positive effect. For example, Suzuki sold 1,634 units of the Grand Vitara last month. But that figure is 29 percent less than the number of Grand Vitaras the company sold in February of last year.