Malaysian conglomerate DRB-Hicom on Tuesday said it had agreed to form a joint venture with Suzuki Motor and Itochu to promote and sell Suzuki vehicles in Malaysia.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
According to Dow Jones, DRB-Hicom – a Suzuki distributor through wholly owned unit Suzuki Malaysia Automobile – said that the new agreement calls for Suzuki Motor and Itochu to subscribe to new Suzuki Malaysia shares.
Suzuki Motor will pay MYR14m for a 40% stake in Suzuki Malaysia while Itochu, a trading firm, will pay MYR7m for a 20% stake. DRB-Hicom will hold the remaining 40%.
“The proposed joint venture displays Suzuki’s strong commitment to strengthen its relationship with DRB-Hicom in the marketing, distribution and assembly of Suzuki vehicles in Malaysia and to widen its product range and models in Malaysia,” DRB-Hicom told Dow Jones.
It added that it expects the joint venture to be formed in the first quarter of this year.
Dow Jones noted that Suzuki was the 12th best-selling brand in Malaysia last year, selling 2,583 units for a 0.6% share of the country’s passenger car market.
