Suzuki Committed to Offering Affordable Vehicles for Kiwis

Suzuki is looking to continue its nearly 60 year history in New Zealand of providing affordable vehicle options for everyday New Zealanders. Offering the latest safety and engine technologies in small car design, the brand is one of the country’s leading sellers to private customers.

Along with many automotive brands, Suzuki New Zealand made a submission to the Government on the proposed Clean Car Standard planned to commence in 2023. Under this standard the proposed emission targets for 2026 and 2027 will be the most challenging in the world. With current planning it is not until 2030 that Europe will have the same target proposed for New Zealand in 2027.

In addition, these targets are weight based which effectively penalises light weight cars more than some larger vehicles.

“Suzuki has the lowest emissions of the top 10 brands in New Zealand and we support the introduction of an emission standard,” says Tom Peck, Suzuki New Zealand CEO. “It is important that the automotive industry strives to reduce global warming. Our concern is that any targets need to be fair and well planned to prevent any unforeseen ramifications. We are a brand that sells to ‘real kiwis’ and we believe it is important that these customers will continue to have access to affordable new vehicle options”.

One of the implications of the timing of the currently proposed Clean Car Standard targets is that the selling price of the most affordable vehicle options will need to increase significantly. The Swift GL auto is one of the country’s most fuel efficient and affordable petrol vehicles with the suggested selling price of $23,500 + ORCs. Developed on a light weight platform with new engine technologies the new model improved emissions by 25.2% compared to the previous generation Swift. To sell the same new Swift in 2027 under the Clean Car Standard would incur over $6,000 of government penalties.

“Suzuki New Zealand remains committed to the New Zealand market and staying leaders in efficient small car design”, says Tom Peck. “However, we are concerned that not all of our customers can afford EV technologies and the planned government penalties on our current fuel efficient vehicles may make them unaffordable. So many customers will simply retain their current vehicle which will make the New Zealand fleet older. This will not assist the country to reduce emissions and it will deny customers access to the latest safety technologies of new cars.”

“Suzuki is continuing to work towards offering our customers the most affordable, fuel efficient models available. The introduction of fair emission targets with timing in line with Europe would assist the industry to achieve our collective goal of reducing vehicle emissions.”