2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 15:44
VW is calm about Suzuki's appeal to the Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce. "We are sure that we have not violated our contracts," said VW manager Hans Demant of the Autogazette.
By Frank Mertens
The VW Group reacted with incomprehension to the appeal to the court of arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) by the Japanese car manufacturer Suzuki.
"We are quite astonished at this move by Suzuki, which disappoints us too. We cannot understand this step. We are sure that we have not violated our contracts. We have no concerns about the appeal to the court of arbitration," said VW manager Hans Demant, who is responsible for coordinating international projects at Europe's largest car manufacturer, spoke to the Autogazette on Thursday.
Demant: Suzuki got a deep insight
As Demant added, VW would have liked "that Suzuki would not tie up the resources on both sides with a legal dispute, but rather invest in the agreed mutual cooperation." Demant does not fear an arbitration verdict to the disadvantage of VW. In addition, Demant can see no reason why VW should return its stake to Suzuki. "Our lawyers have carefully checked the contracts and laws and believe that Suzuki cannot reclaim the shares."
The fact that VW is trying to sit out the problems with Suzuki was denied by Demant. "No, we are not sitting out. We are still interested in a constructive solution. We have presented our ideas for a mutually promising cooperation to Suzuki and are convinced that in the medium term it will only bring Suzuki advantages to keep Volkswagen as a shareholder "said Demant.
Demant cannot understand Suzuki's accusation that the Wolfsburg-based company did not have access to their technologies. "We reject this accusation. Suzuki has gained a deep insight into future technologies such as engines and transmissions and future drive systems. We did not break any contracts here, but constructively kept all agreements and in some cases even exceeded them."
Goals set before cooperation with Suzuki
When asked why VW wants to hold onto Suzuki despite the broken partnership, Demant said: "Because both sides benefit from it. The Suzuki company, the employees at Suzuki and the technologies at Suzuki remain interesting for us."
As Demant said, VW's goal to become the world's largest automaker by 2018 does not depend on its cooperation with Suzuki. "We can achieve our goal without Suzuki. This goal was also set before we went together with Suzuki. The cooperation with Suzuki would make things a lot easier. But without Suzuki we wouldn't have to revise a goal."
