Suzuki celebrates

It’s dealer conference season, which means it’s also dealer awards season. And Suzuki’s been handing out its own gongs, with a much healthier atmosphere around the brand, thanks to improved products and strong sales.

The black-tie event took place at the De Vere Cranage Estate in Crewe, where the Japanese brand marked a slew of impressive achievements, including a total of 170 years of long-service awards.

Highlights included Cornish dealer Anton Parris Motorcycles of Camborne, which was celebrated with a Lifetime Achievement Award, and John W. Groombridge Motorcycles of Heathfield, East Sussex, which was honoured with a 60-Year Service Award. Streetbike in Halesowen chalked up a 40-Year Service Award, as did Marriott Motorcycles in Birkenhead. A&D Motorcycles, Jason Griffiths Motorcycles, and Damerells Motorcycles have all notched up a decade of Suzuki operations.

Streetbike also picked up an award as Aftersales Dealer of the Year, Haslemere Motorcycles collected the Customer Experience Dealer of the Year gong, Cupar Motorcycles was crowned Sales Dealer of the Year, and Crescent Motorcycles was awarded the coveted Dealer of the Year title.

The celebrations culminated with a charity auction, during which a total of £1850 was raised for the Suzuki-supported Wet Wheels Foundation, a charity that provides the opportunity for disabled people to access the sea in a safe, stimulating and rewarding way on board specially built, fully-accessible powerboats.

Suzuki GB head of motorcycles, Jonathan Martin, said, “After four busy years of new model introductions – beginning with the likes of the third generation Hayabusa and GSX-S1000GT in 2021, through to the launch of the new-for-2024 GSX-8R and GSX-S1000GX, it was great to come together as one team with our dealer network and reflect on these events and our shared successes, while also looking ahead to our future direction and goals. The evening gave us the chance to look back, too, in some cases more than 60 years. There is a wealth of knowledge and experience within our dealer network that cannot be rivalled, and it was great to be able to honour those long-standing ambassadors of the Suzuki brand. Topping it off by raising a considerable sum of money to support our chosen charity capped an incredible event.”