Leading Suzuki dealership shatters another record

New Zealand’s top-selling Suzuki dealership shattered another record by bettering a sales milestone last year.

Hollands Suzuki in Christchurch has been the brand’s highest selling New Zealand dealer since 1986 and notched up 1,001 new car and SUV sales in 2021 – cracking the 1,000 mark for the first time. The result was a 22 per cent increase on the same 12 month period the previous year.

Gordon Holland, Chief Executive Officer of the Canterbury dealership, said the achievement was a total team effort and partly the result of an adaption to change. “What worked last week may not be the case today,” he said.

Hollands Suzuki has long held a reputation for strong customer service, heightened by a pioneering decision more than three decades ago to offer free servicing and
maintenance for all customers buying a new vehicle from the dealership.

The company also runs a fleet of courtesy cars and offers a pick-up and delivery service for clients and says a key to success is good personal communication and making
transactions easy for customers.

Gordon says the dealership has been able to provide a complementary service and maintenance service because of the strength and high reliability of the Suzuki brand.

Nationwide in 2021, Suzuki increased total sales of new passenger car and SUV sales by 32 per cent compared to 2020, capturing 7 per cent of the market and taking fourth
place overall, up from fifth the previous year. Last year saw continued solid demand for the best-selling Suzuki Swift range and the latest generation four-wheel-drive Jimny.

In the past twenty years Hollands Suzuki has doubled the number of Suzuki sales, building on a reputation established by Gordon’s father Mick Holland more than half a century ago, selling Suzuki motorcycles. Hollands Suzuki began selling Suzuki cars in 1986 and in the first year was the marque’s top selling new motorcycle and car dealer in New Zealand.

Gordon Holland traces his 60 year experience in the motor industry back to joining his father’s garage as an enthusiastic 20-year-old. Now aged 80 he has no plans to retire while emphasising the on-going need to respond to changing conditions. “And more than ever the art of communication is so important,” he says.

Hollands Suzuki is a pioneer dealership for Suzuki in New Zealand. Gordon’s father Mick was a motorcycle racer who knew Rod Coleman, the original importer of Suzuki motorcycles and then Suzuki automobiles. From this association came the long-time successful Christchurch dealership.