According to the MCIA, Suzuki is reaping the rewards of its dealer development plans, competitive pricing and customer loyalty initiatives, set in motion at the beginning of last year. Such enticing programmes, coupled with an extensive model range, assisted the innovative manufacturer in its quest to claim the No 1 position in the UK’s over 125cc motorcycle market. Suzuki also triumphed as the only Japanese manufacturer to increase sales in the over 51cc category, claiming the coveted best-selling motorcycle of the year title in the process.

Official new registration figures issued by the Motor Cycle Industry Association for the year to end December 2003, confirm that the lightweight and nimble Suzuki GSX-R600 is the number one choice for the nation’s biking fraternity with a total sales tally of 2,403. Following close on its tailpipe in the Industry sales charts stakes is the multi-award and championship winning Suzuki GSX-R1000 which turned in an impressive tally of 2,380 to win the big bike war.

"It’s the King, the one they have to beat," screamed the headlines. The accolades have been justified and the head of the GSX-R family reigned supreme not only as the best-selling over-651cc machine, but also as the only large-capacity motorcycle in the total market top ten. The 2004 GSX-R1000 is now available at Suzuki dealers priced at £8,549 OTR.

"We set our target last year to achieve the number one position in the all-important over-125cc market and we’re delighted to report that not only have we secured our target, but we have taken a huge leap beyond it," said Nick Barnes, Suzuki GB’s General Manager of Motorcycle & ATV Sales.

"At our annual dealer conference in December we announced our plans for 2004, outlining our pricing strategy of freezing, and in many instances reducing prices for the forthcoming year, thereby bucking the trend set by other manufacturers," concluded Barnes.

With the new range of Suzuki GSX-R machines shortly to be released in the UK, Suzuki is confident that the best is about to get better.

Here at MBT, we see this as a vindictation of what we have been saying for the last year or so - that the 600 Gixxer is a cracking bike while the 1000 is yet again shown to be more than a match for any other mainstream sportsbike.

Of course, the new 600 should stay at or near to the top of the heap next year as well, but with the 1000 getting no more than detail changes it will be interesting to see how it fares against the new challenges from Honda, Yamaha and a resurgent Kawasaki. It's still plenty fast enough, of course, but the big question is whether sales are driven by performance or fashion...

For those of you who are interested, here are the total figures for 2003: