All this started in the month of November, 2011. The much-talked-about partnership between Suzuki and Volkswagen was broken by Suzuki. Suzuki said that Volkswagen had not provided the technology promised as per agreement and they broke the agreement. Volkswagen released a statement that said: “We are extremely disappointed that Suzuki has taken this step”.
After few days of releasing this statement, Suzuki moved to the International Court of Arbitration in London to put an end to this dispute. Volkswagen remained firm on their stand by saying that it’s Suzuki who broke the terms of the agreement when the Japanese manufacturer went to Italian brand Fiat to source a 1.6-litre diesel engine to power its SX4 compact SUV.
However, Suzuki is quite confident of a successful outcome and hopeful that Volkswagen will return the 19.9 percent stake in Suzuki it acquired as part of a 2009 partnership agreement which eventually didn’t work out.
Mr. Yasuhito Harayama, Vice President of Business Development, Suzuki said: “The agreement with Volkswagen is already terminated, thus, Volkswagen does not have the legitimacy to keep on holding Suzuki shares”. Though Volkswagen refused to surrender by saying: “There is no legal foundation whatsoever obliging us to surrender our shares. Volkswagen will continue to hold its stake”.
As per sources, Suzuki has offered to buy back the shares that Volkswagen reportedly paid 1.7 billion euros ($2 billion) for back in 2009 when the deal was done, for current market price or about 2 billion euros ($2.4 billion).
Now, all these dispute will be settled with hearings at the ICC International Court of Arbitration in London due to begin next year.
By,
Arghya Pan
Team MotorBash
News Source: caradvice.com.au
