Suzuki CEO Denies Reports That Carmaker Might Produce Super-Small Cars for VW

Less than a week after Reuters reported that Suzuki Motor Corp. was in talks with Volkswagen about building ultra-small cars for the German automaker, the news agency reported today that Suzuki CEO Osamu Suzuki had denied having spoken with anyone at VW about anything recently.

Reuters reported last week that a source familiar with the matter had said that Volkswagen was exploring a deal to cooperate with Suzuki to boost VW's presence in the ultra-small-cars market.

At about the same time, a German magazine reported that VW could secure such a deal by taking a 10 percent stake in Suzuki.

But then on Saturday, Osamu Suzuki denied all of it.

"So far there's been absolutely no contact (with Volkswagen)," he was quoted as telling the Chunichi Shimbun daily.

"Lately, we've been the victim of a lot of rumors (of equity tie-ups and cooperation deals)," the newspaper quoted him as saying.

A Suzuki spokesman said he could not confirm the CEO's comments.

Posted by

Scott Doggett June 30, 2009, 4:37 PM

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Fuel Economy, Suzuki, Volkswagen

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