"The association with Suzuki Motor is purely financial and not technical. There has been some misinterpretation of the issue," according to Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, Member of the Board of Management, Volkswagen Brand.
Dr. Hackenberg, who is also the Executive Vice President and General Representative of Management of Volkswagen Group, said "the collaboration with Suzuki is financial only. The investment in the company has been positive so far. Stocks have gone up because of the collaboration. The collaboration was possible because they approached Volkswagen."
Speaking to journalists at the Volkswagen Group stall at the Frankfurt Motor Show here on Wednesday and answering queries on reported estranged relationship Suzuki and Volkswagen Group have been having lately, the Volkswagen official said "so far they have not had any thought or opportunity to develop any product with them."
When asked if Suzuki which has strengths working on small car platforms could have been useful in development of small cars for emerging markets, he said "when the UP! (the small car that Volkswagen unveiled at the auto show) was being conceptualised and later developed, Suzuki partnership did not happen. So we started work before we joined Suzuki. In fact, we took up the new car project even before Suzuki wanted our help. Actually we do not have same interpretation of the partnership."
Referring to the small car UP developed by Volkswagen, he said that the platform is versatile and allows us to build flexibly depending upon the market we could cater to. That means bigger fuel tanks. In fact the car would have electric option selling by 2013. Asked if they would consider bringing UP early into Indian market, he said "a feasibility study has to be undertaken and also need to factor various other issues before finalising to offer in a market like India. Initially, it would be sold in Europe," he said.
The focus of Volkswagen is to develop the Indian market and exports not a priority as of now. The company is also looking at increasing the localisation aspect in India, he said