Suzuki Wants Divorce From VolksWagen ‘Ball And Chain’

Suzuki Motor Corp. Chairman Osamu Suzuki today said he plans to end his carmaker’s turbulent two-year capital alliance with Germany’s Volkswagen AG, citing concerns about independence and a dearth of technological exchanges and joint projects from the tie up.


The spry, 81-year-old Suzuki executive compared the breakup to a divorce and said the two companies should “say goodbye with a smile” instead of trading bitter accusations.
But much of a sometimes heated press conference early today in Tokyo was spent jabbing VW, which bought a 19.89 percent stake in Suzuki in December 2009. Osamu Suzuki compared their partner to a “ball and chain” and suggested the Germans weren’t acting like grown ups.
Executive Vice President Yasuhito Harayama, who led negotiations with VW, compared the German automaker’s accusations that Suzuki had violated their contract to a declaration of war. It was impossible to maintain healthy relations under such conditions, he said.
The continued acrimony came even as the Suzuki chairman demanded that VW sell its stake in Suzuki. In return, he said, Suzuki would offload its 1.49 percent holding in VW.