Projects with VW to start rolling in Jan

After the year-end holidays, from around January 10, Suzuki Motor Corp and Volkswagen AG will start the ball rolling on joint projects said Suzuki chief executive Osamu Suzuki. Japan's fourth-largest automaker and Volkswagen last week announced a comprehensive tie-up that will see Europe's top automaker take 19.9 per cent of Suzuki. The new partners have agreed to the fact that they want to develop a competitive, small car as a key to expand sales in developing countries.

Suzuki Motor has long been the top maker of 660cc mini vehicles, a segment that exists only in Japan. The first Alto model, launched in 1979, was Suzuki's first major project. Costing just 470,000 yen ($5,250) it became an instant hit, and cumulative sales in its 30th year hit 10 million units.

Suzuki intends to sell an average 7K units a month of the seventh-generation Maruti Alto per month in Japan. The model starts at 677,250 yen ($7,561) for the commercial van , and at 732,900 yen ($8,183) for the passenger car model. Suzuki said that he did not expect the 660cc segment to grow in Japan next year, estimating the market in 2009 to end at around 1.68 million units, down about 10 per cent from last year. Volkswagen Polo and Chevrolet Beat are the upcoming cars in India.