Marine division achieves double-digit growth in net sales and operating income on strength of solid DF350 sales

Global financial results for the 2018 fiscal year released by Suzuki Motor Corp reveal strong performance by its marine division.

For the fiscal year running from April 2018 to March 2019, Suzuki Motor Corp reported overall net sales of ¥3,871.5bn, led by solid automobile sales in Japan and strong sales of both automotive and motorcycle products in India. Worldwide, net sales of motorcycles grew by 3.5% year-over-year, while automobile sales grew by 2.8%.

But it was the company’s marine division which posted the strongest year-over-year growth, reporting a ¥8.9bn jump in net sales to ¥83.9bn for the year. The YOY increase of 11.8% positioned the marine division as Suzuki’s top performer, and the company’s only business unit to achieve double-digit growth for the 2018 fiscal year.

Marine was also the only Suzuki division to attain double-digit growth in operating income for the year, posting a 16.9% gain of ¥2.5bn to ¥17.0bn for the year. The positive performance of the marine business unit was attributed to continuing strong demand for Suzuki’s DF350A outboard in North America.

“The DF350A is an impressive brand champion for Suzuki,” says Gus Blakely, vice president and division head, marine, for Suzuki Motor of America Inc. “The new dual propeller innovation that it brought to the outboard segment has increased our presence with OEMs, been a sales driver for our dealers, and it has reinforced the technology and innovation for all Suzuki outboards, increasing our sales dramatically.”