Nissan doesn’t expect Volkswagen’s buy-in at Suzuki to affect its own deal with the Japanese firm over production of the Pixo.
The Pixo – a rebadged Alto – is built at Suzuki’s plant in India. But Nissan COO Toshiyuki Shiga told Autocar: “Suzuki and Nissan have done a lot of business for many years. As far as we are concerned, nothing changes.”
Read Autocar's first drive of the Nissan Pixo
VW took a 20 per cent stake in Suzuki late last year – with VW chief Ferdinand Piech saying that he'd been attracted by "cutting-edge supermini technology, better presence in emerging markets - and motorbikes".
The latter comment has sparked speculation that the VW Group could be considering building two-wheeled vehicles to accompany its burgeoning range of cars, vans and trucks.
VW Group chief Martin Winterkorn said that VW and Suzuki are planning to work on joint projects. "We have set up a joint project office in Wolfsburg to coordinate cooperation," he said. "Work on concrete ideas and vehicle projects will begin in the coming weeks."
See all the latest Nissan reviews, news and videoSee all the latest Suzuki reviews, news and video
Join the debate
Add your comment
Re: Nissan-Suzuki city car deal secure
Re: Nissan-Suzuki city car deal secure
But what about the future of the Vauxhall Agila? Vauxhall is known to be working on its own small car - will this replace the Agila, or slot in between the Suzuki-built model and the Corsa. Small cars need big volumes to be viable, so I imagine this deal will also continue.