Volkswagen does not need a strategic partner but is receptive to alliances that would open up certain markets, chief executive Bernd Pischetsrieder told a German magazine.
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“In principle no,” he told Auto Motor und Sport, according to Reuters, when asked whether VW required an industrial ally. “But when we want to go into particular markets – and I do not include the US here – then we need a partner,” he said, citing Malaysia as an example.
Reuters noted that Volkswagen and DaimlerChrysler have agreed to work together on a minivan for the US market that Chrysler will build for VW, but they decided in talks on making a subcompact together based on the VW Polo that the car would cost too much.
Pischetsrieder reportedly also said he and DaimlerChrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche had agreed to focus on in-house problems before coming up with any more cooperation deals.
“For me the issue is basically not over, but we at Volkswagen have to improve our cost structure more. It could well be that the next generation of Polo could be built and sold in the United States as well at competitive prices,” he said, according to Reuters.
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By GlobalDataThe news agency noted this was a departure from Pischetsrieder’s comments last year that he wanted to strike a broad-ranging cooperation deal covering several models with DaimlerChrysler.
In the interview published on Wednesday, Pischetsrieder reportedly ruled out a partnership with PSA for VW’s Spanish division Seat, whose factory in Pamplona he said was now safe after a deal in July to boost labour flexibility.
According to Reuters, he also said time would tell whether VW would ever build a small roadster model but added it could not do such a project by rearranging existing modules in its product portfolio.
VW has dropped plans to build a three-wheeled vehicle for the US market for fear of product liability lawsuits, the report said. “We reviewed the project intensively with US lawyers. Reason prevailed,” Pischetsrieder said, according to Reuters.
