Car Troubles: Suzuki frustrated with Volkswagen

Volkswagen purchased a 19.9-percent stake in Suzuki in December 2009.

BERLIN: Japanese automaker Suzuki is getting increasingly frustrated with its larger partner Volkswagen and is eyeing deeper ties with Italian giant Fiat, German media said on Saturday. “The cooperation with Fiat has been going well in a climate of mutual trust for years,” a senior Suzuki executive told the Automobilwoche weekly. Volkswagen’s purchase of a 19.9-percent stake in Suzuki in December 2009 had been seen as an opportunity for both carmakers to benefit from each other’s strengths, in hybrid and small-car technologies respectively. However the 2.5-billion-dollar alliance (1.7 billion euros) turned sour, with Suzuki complaining that its autonomy was being jeopardised and that it was being treated like a subsidiary by Volkswagen.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 24^th, 2011.