Volkswagen has said it would not be drawn into conducting a dispute with Japanese partner Suzuki in public, but hoped to resolve the matter in private.
“Discussions between the parties will be held strictly internally,” VW said in a statement.
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VW reiterated its intention to hold on to its 19.9% stake in Suzuki, and added: “We will not comment further on any speculation.”
News agency AFP noted the statement came after Suzuki upped the stakes in the escalating row last week as it served the German automaker a legal notice demanding it “remedy numerous breaches” of their ill-fated alliance.
Suzuki said it served Volkswagen with a “notice of breach”, claiming it was not given access to technologies promised under their EUR1.7bn (US$2.3bn) tie-up.
It demanded that if the German firm does not offer access to the hybrid technologies, the auto giant must sell back its stake and quit the alliance.
The two car makers entered into a strategic alliance in December 2009, with VW buying a 19.9% stake in Suzuki and the Japanese group buying 1.5% of its German partner with the aim of pooling their respective strengths in hybrid and small car technologies.
However, the alliance turned sour and last month VW announced that it was serving notice of an infringement by Suzuki of their cooperation agreement.
