Suzuki Motor’s 2023 Sales Results of Automobiles in Japan

Suzuki Motor’s automobile sales in Japan in 2023 increased by 7.9% from the previous year to 650,567 units, expanding for the first time in five years. However, as the growth rate was lower than the growth rate of the entire Japanese automobile market, up 13.8%, the automaker’s share fell by 0.7 point to 13.6%. Sales of light vehicles (660cc and below) increased by 6.1% to 531,707 units, but their market share dropped by 0.1 point to 30.5%.

Of these, light passenger vehicles went up by 6.6% to 402,379 units, and light commercial vehicles rose by 4.5% to 129,328 units. Sales of standard vehicles (above 660cc) increased by 17.2% to 118,860 units, but their market share decreased by 0.1 point to 3.9%. Suzuki has announced that the impact of the semiconductor shortage was resolved starting from August 2023, but sales of both light vehicles and standard vehicles were lower in November and December than in the same months of the previous year. Poor sales are attributed to delivery delays of some models.

Looking at light vehicle sales by model, the Spacia, the fully remodeled version was launched in November 2023, did well despite being in the final stage of its model cycle, increasing by 22.0% to 122,275 units, while the Hustler rose by 17.5% to 82,720 units. On the other hand, sales of the Wagon R, which expanded in 2022 with the addition of a slide type model, declined by 12.1% year-on-year to 72,235 units, marking the first decline in three years. In the standard vehicle segment, sales of the Solio, which added a strong HEV in December 2022, increased by 15.4% to 47,983 units, and the Swift, the fully remodeled version was launched in December 2023, went up by 5.9% to 26,589 units.

In 2024, sales of the new Spacia, new Swift, and Wagon R Smile with the addition of a mild HEV are expected to expand. Suzuki has set the 2024 sales target of the new Spacia at 144,000 units, the new Swift at 36,000 units and the Wagon R Smile at 60,000 units.