Suzuki values hold strong In South Africa, where purchase prices of new vehicles are hyper-inflated in comparison to most other markets, the question of resale value is one that often plays a large part in the purchase decision. IIt creates a market where manufacturers are not too perturbed by seeing volume models drop in second-hand ticket price by up to 50% in just a few yearsa and permeates the ‘see-saw’ effect of new vs. second hand price or, more importantly, overall perceived value. Smaller in volume but near the top of the resale value heap sits Suzuki, who have done very little other than impress its buyers with their small but diverse, practical and extremely high quality offerings. According to a recent analysis of data published in the TransUnion Auto Information Solutions’ authoritative Auto Dealers’ Guide, Suzuki passenger cars and SUVs achieve among the highest resale values in their segments, relative to their original retail prices. The resale data reflects actual trade values as a percentage of new vehicle list prices over the past 12 months and is determined by dealer returns sent to TransUnion on a monthly basis. The latest data, calculated up to December 2010, underscores how well Suzuki vehicles are performing in their relevant segments as far as resale value is concerned.
For instance, the marque’s trio of Grand Vitara models – the Grand Vitara 2.4, 2.4 AT and 3.2 V6 AT – outpaced all their major rivals in average resale value terms. At the end of December 2010, the average resale value of a Suzuki Grand Vitara 2.4 stood at 77.2% of the original retail price, with the automatic transmission version achieving the same average. The Grand Vitara 3.2 V6 AT model achieved an average resale value of 76.8%. This pips the Suzuki’s competitors, such as the Honda CR-V (76.7%), the Toyota Fortuner 4×4 (75.6%) and the Toyota RAV4 (74.3%).