Celerio, Ertiga in CAR Magazine’s Top 12 best vehicle list
This year is turning into a repeat performance for Suzuki Auto South Africa, after it received more awards from CAR Magazine in the past week.
Image Supplied by Suzuki Auto South Africa
Suzuki – last year’s Company to Watch and Budget Car of the Year winner in CAR Magazine’s Top 12 Awards – was called to the podium to receive an award for its entry level Celerio and also won for the budget-beating Ertiga MPV.
In the Budget Car category, CAR’s team of judges chose the Celerio 1.0 GA over a host of other entry-level vehicles priced at under R160 000. This is one of two categories in which the judges select a specific derivative and not an entire range, but given the Celerio’s budget price, the judges also selected the more luxurious GL-version as a finalist.
Said the judging panel:
“One of the real bargains in our market, the Celerio, wins for the second year in row thanks to its low price, standard safety features, sensible specifications and large, practical cabin.”
The judges also praised the Celerio’s inexpensive service costs, low fuel consumption, and despite its budget price, its fun-to-drive character.
The Suzuki Celerio 1.0 GA is available at R135 900 and even this base model features air conditioning, ABS brakes, two airbags and power steering. Like all other Suzuki passenger vehicles, the Celerio is sold with a five year / 200 000 km warranty, as well as a full 30 000 km / two year service plan.
In a sub-category of CAR Magazine’s budget segment, the Suzuki Ertiga won the Best Small MPV category. Like the Celerio, the Ertiga offers great value for money, including a four year / 60 000 km service plan, dual airbags, seven seats and a practical 185 mm ground clearance. The Ertiga also benefits from the five year / 200 000 km warranty.
Image Supplied by Suzuki Auto South Africa
In giving the award, the judges said that – compared to the crude manners of its main rival – the Ertiga was a truly “resolved product”. It again praised Suzuki’s value-for-money approach, with the Ertiga in GA-specification level costing less than R200 000.
The Celerio and Ertiga join the Ignis and Vitara on the list of recent award-winning Suzuki models. The Ignis was the overall winner of the #Drive360 Awards and was also chosen as the Cars.co.za Consumer Awards’ Budget Car winner. The Vitara in turn won the Compact Family Car Category in the same Cars.co.za awards, with the highest margin of any winner on the night.
At the Cars.co.za Awards, Suzuki was also chosen as the Brand of the Year for the second year in a row. This prestigious award only considers customer feedback in choosing South Africa’s top brand.
“The golden thread running through all of these awards is Suzuki’s value-for-money. Judges praise this when mentioning the low sales price, the affordable cost of vehicle services and the list of standard specifications. We are proud that our hard work in offering real value to our customers is recognised in this way,”
says André Venter, divisional manager for sales and marketing at Suzuki.
About Suzuki Auto South Africa
Suzuki Auto South Africa is a leading supplier of affordable passenger vehicles and SUVs.
As South Africa’s fastest growing established vehicle brand, it won the Brand of the Year award in the Cars.co.za Consumer Awards in 2017 and again in 2018. This award is based on in-depth customer feedback from vehicle owners across the country. As CAR Magazine’s 2017 “Company to Watch”, Suzuki set a new overall sales record in South Africa and expanded its dealer network rapidly. It will introduce several new models and new dealers in 2018.
