Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. will help Volkswagen AG develop a new small car priced at less than 400,000 rupees ($8,600), the Financial Express reported today, citing industry sources it didn’t name.
Maruti, a unit of Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp., will get expertise for manufacturing diesel engines from Volkswagen or will directly source engines from the Wolfsburg, Germany-based carmaker, the report said.
Suzuki Chairman Osamu Suzuki is scheduled to visit India later this month and is likely to discuss various ways to cooperate with Volkswagen officials, the report said. The two companies will make at least three major announcements about joint product development, contract manufacturing and other collaborations, the report said, without citing the sources.
R.C. Bhargava, chairman of New Delhi-based Maruti, didn’t answer calls to his mobile phone.
Volkswagen, Europe’s biggest carmaker, owns a 19 percent stake in Hamamatsu, Japan-based Suzuki.
