2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 15:44
Suzuki wants to end the capital links with VW. The Japanese automaker announced on Monday. On Sunday, the Wolfsburg accused their partner of a contractual relationship.
The partnership was bumpy, now it is about to end. The Japanese car maker Suzuki wants to end its partnership with Volkswagen. The capital links with VW should be dissolved, said Suzuki on Monday in a message to the Tokyo stock exchange. Volkswagen has held a 19.9 percent stake in Suzuki since December 2009. Suzuki holds 1.5 percent of VW. In a first reaction, a Volkswagen spokesman in Wolfsburg said: "We are sticking to the stake in Suzuki and are still interested in the cooperation."
Bumpy partnership between VW and Suzuki
But the collaboration was bumpy: In July, Volkswagen pointed out that the partnership was developing more slowly than expected and announced that it would carry out an assessment.
On Sunday, VW announced that the cooperation agreement concluded in December 2009 was viewed as violated. The breach of contract is related to the purchase of diesel engines by Suzuki from another manufacturer.
According to information from industry circles, this is Fiat. From VW's point of view, this contradicts the contractual content of the cooperation between Volkswagen and the Japanese. VW had said that Suzuki would now be given a period of several weeks to correct the situation.
VW's goal of the partnership is to benefit from the expertise of the Japanese in building inexpensive small cars and their strong market position in emerging countries. Originally, both also expected technological advantages from the alliance. VW wants to overtake Toyota by 2018 at the latest and advance to become a global car power. Suzuki is particularly well positioned in the fast growing Indian market. The segment of small, cheap cars is growing rapidly and is considered by experts to be important for global market leadership. (AG / dpa)
