Some welcome good news from Suzuki this month: it achieved a significant uplift in motorcycle sales for the first part of 2026, with a thousand extra bikes sold year-on-year. It also performed well in the National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA) dealer survey (see page 12), finishing in the top three in 22 survey sections and at the top of nine of them.
BDN’s Alan Dowds spoke to Suzuki GB’s director of motorcycles, Paul de Lusignan, to find out what lies behind what some would say is a long-overdue recovery.
The conversation began with the NMDA survey results. What has helped Suzuki achieve such strong performance? “I’d say it was a welcome reinforcement of what we’ve been doing is working,” said de Lusignan. “At our annual dealer conference back in January, we set out our plans for the year ahead, and our dealers bought into that. There was a real sense of confidence coming out of the conference. Our dealers backed us, and the success seen in the NMDA survey is because they’re feeling a lot more confident and happy. So, the first thing is to say thanks to our dealers.”
What about this year’s sales success? De Lusignan says the plans outlined at the conference helped massively. “The conference set us up really well for the year. We talked about price re-alignments because we recognise what’s happening in the marketplace, and we want to ensure more sales for our dealers and for ourselves. The adjustments have chimed well with our retail customers, and as a result, we’ve seen increased demand. It’s worked really well.”
Paul de Lusignan, Suzuki GBBut de Lusignan was keen to point out that it’s not simply been about cutting prices. “We’ve always been committed to value, but value is a lot more than just price. Our price re-alignments are not about, ‘oh, we must be the cheapest on the market’, or ‘we must undercut new entrants coming into the market’. They’re about Suzuki being where consumers want us to be.
“One of our key new strengths is our 10-year service-activated warranty. When we introduced it, we aimed to encourage customers with older bikes – four, five, six, or even nine years old – to return to our dealers. This not only increases after-sales opportunities for the network but also proved to be an outstanding sales tool. It’s a level of warranty our competitors can’t match. When customers visit Suzuki showrooms, they’re not just seeing quality, heritage, and value; they’re also getting the reassurance of a comprehensive warranty and peace of mind.”
Success has quickly spread right across the Suzuki network, says de Lusignan. “From the sales side, 90% of our dealers have sold more bikes than they did last year. We told dealers at our conference there was a good opportunity for every one of them to increase sales substantially, and we are seeing that happening.
“I also think our marketing, our sales messaging, our pricing and our new models are hitting home with customers, who are walking into Suzuki showrooms and asking about the new bikes and our 10-year warranty.”
Part of the sales success has come from new models. Recent introductions, like the GSX-8T and TT, DR-Z4S and M, together with evergreen models such as the GSX-S1000 range, have all done well. But there have been delays on some new machines: “When we talk about new bikes, the relaunched GSX-R1000R and the SV-7GX only arrived in dealerships recently, so they were not part of the recent sales increase. The first deliveries are going out to dealers now. They will give us a boost as we come into the autumn, but they’re obviously also going to be important for next season.”
Their arrival will help Suzuki with its aim of increasing market share, says de Lusignan; “We told our dealers earlier this year that we want to reach 7% market share, and we’re on that path.”