As far as plucky car manufacturers that punch above their weight are concerned, few fit the criteria better than Japanese car (and bike) makers Suzuki.
Three studies gauging car-buyer satisfaction across three locations, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, have placed Suzuki at the top of the list. Significant praise for a marque that doesn’t often get the spotlight.
The three studies in question are the British Institute of Customer Service, Canstar Blue’s study of Most Satisfied Customers for Small Cars and Best Value New Cars in Australia, and Consumer New Zealand’s poll of most satisfied owners of new cars.
The Consumer NZ poll quizzed owners of 19 different brands of car and almost 10,000 people in total. It revealed that 90 per cent of respondents who had purchased Suzukis considered themselves “very satisfied”, with 89 per cent saying they would recommend the Suzuki brand to others.
The British customer satisfaction survey polled a similar number of people, this time asking them to rate their experiences in dealing with 260 different brands across 13 different industry segments not exclusive to cars.
Suzuki wound up being the most popular brand in the motoring sector, and a credible third overall; scoring 84 points. It finished 25 places ahead of the next highest-rated car brand, Nissan. Skoda, Hyundai, and Toyota were the only other car brands to crack the top 50.
The Australian study, meanwhile, gave Suzuki a five-star rating for overall satisfaction, reliability, driving experience, and value for money in the small-car sector, having polled 600 small-car buyers across the country.
Out of a total of 2500 motorists surveyed by Canstar Blue, Suzuki was the only brand to get a five-star rating in the Value for Money category.
Suzuki lags behind other carmakers when it comes to electrification, with just the one electrified model (the Swift hybrid) offered in New Zealand. But, even with no hybrids or utes on the roster, it punches above its weight at home and abroad.
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