Volkswagen to take decision on India specific small car with Suzuki by 2011

German carmaker Volkswagen  may probably  finalise its plan of developing a small car with Suzuki by the first half of the year 2011. The company holds 19.9 per cent stake in Suzuki Motor Corp. AG Chairman Martin Winterkorn commented that  India specific  small car is one of the areas that the company is discussing with Suzuki. The decision for the same will probably take place by spring 2011. However, he  did not tell that whether the planned car will be positioned below Volkswagen Polo which is the latest hatchback of the company in India. The Indian arm of the company has however confirmed that the new  small car is being planned below the Polo.

He further added that India is very important for Volkswagen and the volumes are growing in Indian and Chinese markets. Last year, Volkswagen had picked up the stake of 19.9 per cent in (SMC) for USD 2.5 billion. Winterkorn also added that the company is is talks about engine development, hybrids for Japan and some other topics also. He also mentioned that he meets SMC Chairman Osamu Suzuki in every 3 months.

For developing diesel engines, Volkswagen and SMC are in talking regularly. These engines may step in the Indian market also in future. Also for exploring the synergies in vehicle design and production, the officials of Volkswagen and MSI met in May this year. These two are also checking out the opportunities in the areas like product design, product testing, evaluation or the designing of future models. On one hand, Suzuki Motor Corporation wants to know about Volkswagen’s technology and on the other hand, Volkswagen is interested in the expertise of Maruti Suzuki India in high volume production and that too at a reasonable efficiency and cost.

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