Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, Member of the Board of Management, Volkswagen Brand recently clarified that the company’s tie-up with Suzuki Motor is purely financial and not technical. He further added that the investment till now has been positive as the stocks have gone up because of the tie-up.
Responding to a question pertaining to the estranged relationship between Volkswagen and Suzuki, Dr. Hackenberg stated that Volkswagen has not had any thought or opportunity to develop any product in collaboration with Suzuki.
When questioned if Suzuki could have been of great help to Volkswagen to develop small cars such as ‘UP’, referring to Suzuki’s expertise in small cars, Dr. Hackenberg responded that Volkswagen started working on its small car before its partnership with Suzuki. Talking about company’s plan to launch ‘UP’ in India, Dr. Hackenberg said a feasibility study would be undertaken apart from addressing other issues before the decision was made to launch the car in India. The company plans to sell ‘UP’ initially only in Europe.
