SUZUKI'S NORTH AMERICAN PRESIDENT VISITS FOGG'S AUTOMOTIVEBy Ameerah Cetawayo
Gazette
reporter
A dealership with more than 30 years of
Capital Region roots attracted the personal attention Tuesday of
automaker Suzuki's North American president, Kinji "Kevin"
Saito.
Saito said he came to 27,000-square-foot lot
at Fogg's Automotive &
Suzuki to meet with management and see what strategies are
working. We are the partnerships; we always want to have a
good communication, good understanding of each other and what is going
on," Saito said.
Touring the facility, he noted
Fogg's success making a profit and satisfying customers.
"Their way of thinking is very long-term," Saito said. "They are
committed, so we are very happy to have them here." The
dealership ranks third nationally for its sales and customer service
satisfaction index scores. It has been a Suzuki affiliate since
2006.
District Sales Manager Scott
Goldstone said as a smaller company with 370 dealers in the United
States, a hands-on management approach suits American Suzuki Motor
Corp. Owner John Fogg said the dealership employs 50 people,
many of whom are longtime employees. Having a stable staff contributes
to quality customer service, according to Fogg. "Fifty percent of our
business is repeat or referral," Fogg said. "We have people who have
purchased literally 20 cars from us."
American
Suzuki's goal is to keep customers in a cycle that starts when they buy a
car, and continues for service and other needs like towing and
collision repair- a "customer for life" philosophy, according to
management. "Customer service is a culture. It isn't a slogan
or something that you put out for a month and say its going to be
customer service month," Fogg said. "It's something that started with my
father 30 years ago. Culture comes from the employees and you have to
hire people who naturally think that way."
Fogg said
his business will always take the approach of looking down the road at
long-term success over short-term profits. American Suzuki's agenda for
next year includes strengthening dealer networks and marketing the new
2010 Suzuki Kizashi sports sedan in a big way.
"This
is the restarting point of our business in the future," Saito said of
the Kizashi, the company's first entry into the all-wheel-drive sport
sedan segment. Calling the market for North American sales
"tough," Saito said customers have become value-centric and more
cautious amid economic concerns. American Suzuki's October
over-all sales were down 50 percent, going from3,482 to 1,745. Sales for
the best-selling five-door SX4 Crossover were down 33 percent, falling
to 1,229 from 1,839 last October.
The company
continues to stand out with less expensive, smaller cars with more
safety features like all wheel drive, Saito said. "Three or
four years ago, when the total size of the U.S. market was 16 or 17
million a year, we aimed at some numbers, but the total economics
changed?We have to be patient with the number of the sales, which is not
so big, with how to make good business models for the dealers to
sustain the business, " Saito said.
Next year,
Suzuki will focus on balancing its growth in developed countries with
emerging markets like India and Pakistan-places Suzuki built its
business from scratch in the early 1980's. "Now we have some harvest
time," he said. The company holds 50 percent of the market in
India, where total October 2009 sales rose 32 percent over the year to
85,415 units.
Next year, Fogg's Automotive will place
considerable emphasis on online social networking, according to
Fogg. "The thing that we're working on the most is the
Internet," he said, extending the customer buying experience by
promoting Suzuki brands in social networking sites like Facebook,
YouTube and MySpace.
"That is the future," Fogg
said.
