Ask Simon Terry about Suzuki

Who is Simon Terry? He’s the Fleet manager for Suzuki New Zealand.
Simon’s is a slightly different Fleet manager role than many might think.
For the SME business, a fleet manager looks after the fleet, maybe five vehicles up to a few hundred. The role encompasses a range of tasks, but it is a well-defined position and – among other things – includes liaising with fleet managers from lease companies and vehicle dealerships.
The lease company/dealership fleet managers have a similar role, but different.
Their job is to help SME fleet managers run their fleets and they liaise with other professionals and perhaps most critically with vehicle distributors: talking to yet another type of fleet manager, one like Simon for instance.
So, who is Simon, how did he end up with Suzuki as the brand’s fleet manager and what is it that he actually does?
“My background is something of a who’s who in the automotive world,” says Simon, who then proceeded to list a diverse range of well-known vehicle brands all of which has given Simon a good grounding in the industry.  
“I wasn’t only in new vehicle sales either. I started in vehicle compliance, working with used import vehicles before coming into the new vehicle sector.
“I did have a bit of a sabbatical running my own business, which was very good grounding for me, but as you know it is very hard to get the automotive industry out of your blood and I retuned back to the fold.”
March will see Simon celebrate 11 years with Suzuki New Zealand, the last 12 months of which have been in his Fleet manager role. Prior to this saw Simon in a 10-year role as National Sales manager and also as a dealership representative.
But isn’t that the same sort of thing?
“There are definite parallels between the roles,” explains Simon. “As the National Sales manager, you coordinate and work with the dealer network focusing on customer service and retail sales.
“A Fleet manager works more closely with the business customer, ideally maintaining a long- standing partnership, using cars as the vehicle of the relationship and ensuring the products are fit-for-purpose so that they work to enhance the customer’s business operation.”   
Suzuki has long been a trusted fleet vehicle supplier to a diverse range of businesses and franchises and the company has earned that reputation, not necessarily through the highest discount, but by producing vehicles fit for purpose at a competitive price level with the support of an experienced dealer network.
There are many factors a business considers when it comes to aligning itself with a specific brand.
“One such consideration,” according to Simon, “is reliability. Suzuki product is very well regarded in this: the cars just keep going and going.”
Safety is of course, a primary consideration on the part of all auto manufacturers and every Suzuki that comes into the country through Suzuki New Zealand does so with safety as a critical consideration.
“We promote five-star safety rated vehicles,” explains Simon “and we work with the factory to ensure new vehicles comply with this as best we possibly can. Our core models are five-star safety rated,” explains Simon.  
“Another consideration is cost of operation and ownership. This is perhaps the most vital factor when it comes to all-of-government vehicle supply and for organisations where Suzuki product is found in extensive numbers, health boards and councils for example.
“These organisations see the value in not only the assurance of quality of their vehicles but also the availability of national representation when it comes to ease of aftersales servicing, especially in remoter locations.”
To this end, Suzuki has a national network of over 36 dealerships and six agencies, and those numbers are growing all the time, in keeping with the brand’s very successful product range.
Simon puts the success of the brand to more than all of these considerations.
“People like owning Suzukis for their fun to drive factor and we have a very loyal customer following. As a result, our dealers like selling Suzuki product and lease companies like our product for its reliability and high residual values, which puts Suzuki high on the shopping list for both the private and commercial user.”   
And there’s not much more than that which needs to be said, other than to ask: which Suzuki suits your needs best? The Swift? The Vitara? Baleno? Ignis? S-Cross or Jimny?  
Give Simon – or your local Suzuki dealer – a call and find out.

Simon.terry@suzuki.co.nz
029 4877273