German automotive giant VW (Volkwsagen) has reportedly seeking to hold discussions with its Japanese partner, Suzuki who recently surfaced to have announced that they wished to leave the partnership.
The news came through a report published in Japan’s Nikkei that there were in fact problems in the Suzuki-VW alliance and that Suzuki no longer wants to be part of the German automotive company anymore.
The statement said that in an unscheduled board meeting recently, they have made the decision following claims by VW that the Japanese partner had breached the contract terms when they cooperated with Italian automotive conglomerate Fiat for their diesel engine supplies. According to reported, Suzuki will be demanding for VW to sell off its stake its stake in the company which stands at 19.9% and vice versa where Suzuki is holding 1.49% in VW.
If that happens, then it would pose a major dent to VW’s efforts in making inroads into the India market where Suzuki is known to have a strong brand presence there. According to Suzuki, the partnership has become ‘non-beneficial’ to them and would only help VW instead of the other way. VW claims that Suzuki is an ‘attractive investment’ and would still hope that the partnership will be kept intact and the meeting is perhaps to try and do that.
