2:21 pm, March 7, 2012
SUZUKI has opened its new National Apprentice Training Centre based in Armthorpe, near Doncaster.
The new centre is the hub for Suzuki’s Apprentice training across its franchised dealers and authorised repair network and includes staff from car, motorcycle and ATV sections of the business.
Suzuki launched the apprenticeship programme for its car dealers in 2003 with motorcycle and ATV apprentices added in 2004. The first apprentice group graduated in 2005 and it is now one of the highest regarded schemes in the industry producing 171 graduates to date.
This year there are currently more than 100 apprentices in the programme, roughly split as 70 from Suzuki franchised car dealers and 30 from Motorcycle and ATV. Suzuki has a widespread franchised UK network of 158 car, 83 motorcycle and 46 ATV dealers.
Under the tuition and mentoring from four trainers employed by service provider SPX Service Solutions, service technicians for car, motorcycle and ATV study in 17 blocks over a 36 month period with parts and aftersales studying eight blocks plus a further 16 days dealer training over a 30 month period.
As part of their final year, technical apprentices are then put through their accredited level assessments on the Suzuki Master Technician Programme prior to graduating.
Denis Houston, aftersales sirector for Suzuki GB, said : ‘We are delighted to launch our new Training Centre; developing the skills of our apprentices is an excellent way of strengthening our performance, staying true to our company vision and ultimately offering even better customer service. The Suzuki Apprenticeship Programme provides a strong foundation on which to develop their careers with Suzuki in the future.’
