VW + Suzuki.....?

According to the latest issue of CAR magazine, VW is looking to buy Suzuki, with the paperwork being completed before the New Year. The idea is that VW will get access to Suzuki's "small car" building expertise, as well as it's low cost factories in emerging countries.

Before considering Suzuki, VW looked really hard at Mazda, but decided that since they (Mazda) couldn't develop their own small car (Mazda sells a "kei-class" car built by another company....Suzuki, I think) their was no point in buying into Mazda. I imagine the fact that Ford still owns a small chunk of Mazda (now only 13%) was also a factor.

I hope this doesn't mean that future Suzukis could start to slip in quality.

I believe VW is buying a 20% of Suzuki, and Suzuki may be buying some of VW.

Suzuki produces Kei cars for Nissan, not sure about Mazda.

Hopefully it will improve the quality of the VW. It is just unbelievable the issues I see from friends and family with VWs. I don't know a soul who'd buy another.

And the sad part is that, except for the tendancy to spontaneously combust which is a wiring issue, it's all small stuff that they've had plenty of time to redesign.

All i see is Swifts with coil pack problems...

I saw the article on autoblog. Its sad. I think the technology sharing is going to the wrong way - VW to Suzuki - meaning the Suzukis may be less reliable in the future.

All I see is VW coil pack problems. and VW sludge problems and intermittent VW electrical problems and annoying service procedures and the need to buy 'specialized' tools for an arm and a leg and...

VW really wanted a motorcycle manufacturer, turned Ducati away a few years ago... a few hours before their business exploded.

what I find funny.. out of all the old european cars I still see on the roads.. Most of them are saabs and VW.. the two that were not known for their reliabilty or robustness. MB, BMW, Audi, and Jags all seem to disappear after 10 years in these parts

mad_machine wrote: what I find funny.. out of all the old european cars I still see on the roads.. Most of them are saabs and VW.. the two that were not known for their reliabilty or robustness. MB, BMW, Audi, and Jags all seem to disappear after 10 years in these parts

I think that may have more to do with production numbers than reliability or robustness.

^ I was thinking hte same thing. I mean, you NEVER see a Swift on the road form the early 90's, but they will run 200+k miles. They just weren'tbrought here in mass numbers.

furthermore, did he just include jaguar in the "robust" column?

mad_machine wrote: what I find funny.. out of all the old european cars I still see on the roads.. Most of them are saabs and VW.. the two that were not known for their reliabilty or robustness. MB, BMW, Audi, and Jags all seem to disappear after 10 years in these parts

Considering the location, dredging might find more than a few of those "disappeared" cars, and clear-up a few cold cases, too!