Suzuki needs to stay humble and not have illusions about itself as “the world’s top automaker” despite its recent tie-up with Volkswagen, chairman Osamu Suzuki told the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in Tokyo.
”We need to understand that a small and medium-sized enterprise like Suzuki (Motor) formed an alliance with a top company like Volkswagen. It doesn’t mean that Suzuki Motor became a globally famous or prestigious company,” he said. ”But we have been given a chance to reach that kind of aspiration.”
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A combined VW-Suzuki could overtake Toyota to be the world’s largest car maker.
Suzuki made clear that he had no intention of turning his company into Volkswagen’s 12th brand and indicated he would reject any future proposal for the German automaker to buy more shares.
”If Suzuki continues to grow and becomes a successful company in the future, perhaps Volkswagen may suggest buying a bigger stake,” Suzuki said. ”But I think we will say, ‘Let’s keep on going the way we are since we are doing so well’.”
Last month, VW acquired a 19.9% stake in Suzuki; it wants to use Suzuki’s dominance of India – where it has more than half the new car market – to help it grow there.
”We are pinning our survival in the global auto industry with this alliance,” Suzuki said, calling Volkswagen the company’s new ”master” after it ended its capital ties with General Motors.
”We are not going to lose sight of the fact that we are a small, medium-sized enterprise,” said Suzuki, who turns 80 later this month.
”We should not overreach beyond our capacity nor should we feel sorry for ourselves,” he added. ”We’re going our own ways.”
