Maruti Suzuki to make cars for Volkswagen?

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Maruti Suzuki may manufacture cars for Volkswagen’s global market on a contract basis, according to reports by three publications which included the Economic Times and Hindu Business Line newspaper.
“The talks with Volkswagen are going on at a global level and there is still no clear picture. There is a possibility of an OEM (original equipment manufacturing) supply contract with them, like we have with Nissan,” said Maruti Suzuki managing director Shinzo Nakanishi to Indian newspaper HBL.
The Economic Times also reported Nakanishi as saying that there was definitely no possibility of platform sharing due to Volkswagen’s production and product development costs being too high. This wouldn’t work for Maruti who would like to produce an end product that’s much more affordable to its target market.
Volkswagen AG bought a 20 percent stake in Suzuki in January in the amount of $2.5 billion. The fact that Maruti has done such a deal before with Nissan (which doesn’t hold a stake in Suzuki) will be more reason for the deal to be plausible.
Maruti Suzuki have a three year contract to supply Suzuki A-Star hatchbacks which are rebadged as Nissan Pixo’s for the European market. This contract exports a minimum of 35,000 units a year and is due to expire in 2011.