Welcome back to ongoing coverage of the latest transcontinental tale of romance and betrayal, in which Volkswagen and Suzuki’s young-but-troubled relationship is put to the test while the world watches. Last time we checked in, a piece of pricey gossip suggested what the rumors had been saying for weeks: VW and Suzuki were headed for Splitsville. But despite the angry blogging outbursts and talk of “reviewing the relationship,” Volkswagen is standing by its Japanese bride, telling Automotive News Europe [sub] that the latest gossip that the “relationship is headed for dissolution” is “nonsense.” Suzuki joined the show of support, saying it had no plans to leave. But all the while, an Italian temptress is putting even more pressure on this relationship, as Bertel reported last month: (Read More…)

Someone is fanning the flames between Volkswagen and Suzuki, and we aren’t talking flames of love. Today, the German Platow Brief reported a bit belatedly that the German-Nipponese alliance is on the ropes. Something that the attentive reader of TTAC has known for quite a while and as always free of charge. The expensive subscription to the German financial newsletter is not in our editorial budget. A friend of TTAC sent us today’s Platow missive, which can’t be found on-line. After going through the usual blah-blah, the letter drops a high explosive bomb: (Read More…)

While today’s Arse Sweat-a-Palooza winner on laps is indeed the same Honda-motorcycle-engined Geo Metro that won the 2008 Arse Freeze-a-Palooza, it’s really a much different car now. In ’08, the Geo Player Special (then known as the Metro Gnome) had the CBR900RR engine driving the front wheels, via an ingenious chain drive that used a toilet plunger as a grease seal. Since that time, the engine— now a CBR1000— has been moved back and now drives the rear wheels. (Read More…)

Toshihiro Suzuki, executive vice president of Suzuki said Volkswagen conducting a review of their troubled marriage is “a step forward.” He quickly added  that Suzuki had not heard any details, says Dow Jones via The Nikkei [sub].

“Our cooperation is based on the premise of being equal partners,” said Suzuki. “We’ll wait to hear from Volkswagen to confirm that the review under way is being carried out with this idea in mind.”

This doesn’t sound like the remarks of a partner who is ready to kiss and make up & out. (Read More…)

“Right now, there is no specific joint development project going on with Volkswagen,” Suzuki Executive Vice President Yasuhito Harayama told reporters who came to Suzuki’s headquarters in Hamamatsu, Japan, to meet four executive vice presidents of Suzuki. Come to think of it, there had been no progress over the past 18 months in the much feted partnership between Suzuki and Volkswagen, Harayama said.

The man who just cut deep in the fraying strands of the tie-up between Volkswagen and Suzuki would have all reason to say everything is fine.  Harayama is a former bureaucrat at Japan’s economy and trade ministry who was hired by Suzuki two years ago. He is in charge of relations with Volkswagen. It is not in his interest to admit defeat.

According to comments made by Harayama to Ran Kim of Reuters, one of the sharpest reporters on the Japanese auto beat, relations between Wolfsburg and Hamamatsu turned into a deep freeze when Volkswagen tried to “wield influence over Suzuki’s management.”

“It was made very clear when we tied up with Volkswagen that we did not want to become consolidated, and that we would remain independent,” Harayama said.

Before anything will happen between Suzuki and Volkswagen, the deal needs to be renegotiated. (Read More…)

Suzuki is not buying into the „once in a millennium tsunami.” Suzuki has a lot of its production near the waterfront in Japan’s Tokai region. Scientists give the area between Toyko and Nagoya an 87 percent chance of getting hit by an earthquake with a magnitude of about 8 within the next 30 years. Suzuki’s answer: Let’s get out of here, fast. (Read More…)

Things are not going well between Volkswagen and Suzuki. In 2009, Volkswagen invested $2.5 billion for a 19.9 percent share in Suzuki. Suzuki sent $1.13 billion back and bought 2.5 percent of Volkswagen. Suzuki netted $1.37 billion, domo arigatou gozaimasu, but then nothing happened. End of last year, Ferdinand Piech became impatient. Volkswagen stockholders asked discomforting questions at the annual meeting. Now, it turned into a war of the words. Volkswagen uses old media. The octogenarian Osamu Suzuki drops a massive blog bomb on Wolfsburg. (Read More…)

In what could possibly raise eyebrows in Wolfsburg, Suzuki is getting  cozier with Fiat. According to The Nikkei [sub], Fiat will supply Suzuki with 20,000 to 30,000 1.6-liter diesel engines per year. The engines will be built in Europe. Suzuki plans to use the engines in the SX4, which was jointly developed with Fiat, at Suzuki’s assembly plant in Hungary. (Read More…)

History made on the mountain just a few minutes ago: Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima just ran 9:51 and change in his run to the Pike’s Peak summit. Sayonara, 10-minute barrier! (Read More…)

Suzuki will finally relent and will offer a plug-in hybrid version of its bestselling Swift hatchback. A lithium-ion battery will power the car for the first 30km (18.6 miles), then a gasoline engine will produce the juice, says The Nikkei [sub]. (Read More…)

‘Tis the season when Japanese companies publish annual results. They all work on a fiscal year that runs from April 1 through March 31. Then, they need a good month to count the beans, to be ready in mid May. Suzuki was first to announce, and the announcement was good: (Read More…)

At yesterday’s annual shareholder meeting, Volkswagen had nothing but good news: A record year 2010, a record first quarter 2011, a company that is rolling in cash. Instead of thanking management for the good numbers and the (smaller than expected) dividend, ingrate shareholders bawled Winterkorn out. (Read More…)

Ever since Volkswagen bought not quite 20 percent of Suzuki a little more than a year ago, industry observers said: “Now what?” To this day, the couple remains childless. Lately, there have been rumors that the impatient German side is pushing for offsprings, whereas the Japanese side stays chaste. Now finally, there might be results – if India’s Economic Times has the correct information. (Read More…)

Maybe it was my lukewarm review. Or maybe it was because Suzuki’s most ardent attempt to date to appeal to Americans connected with only 6,138 of them last year. Despite the unintended acceleration media circus, Toyota sold more Camrys in the average week. Whatever the reason, Suzuki revised the Kizashi after just one model year, transforming the two top trim levels into “Sport” models. Substitute a six-speed manual and front-wheel-drive for the previous test’s CVT and all-wheel-drive, and the 2011 Kizashi certainly deserves another look.

(Read More…)

Uh-oh. Septuagenarian Ferdinand Piech is expressing youthful impatience with octogenarian Osamo Suzuki. Volkswagen’s Chairman of the board “is reportedly irked at the slow progress of his firm’s alliance with Suzuki,” says The Nikkei [sub]. The reason? “A year after Suzuki and Volkswagen agreed on a capital and business tie-up, the track record of their partnership remains devoid of significant accomplishment.” (Read More…)