#suzuki

The ongoing saga between Volkswagen and Suzuki may last a bit longer. The German automaker is facing arbitration brought by the Japanese automaker to end their partnership, and VW said that the London court handling the proceedings won’t reach a decision before next year.

A few years ago, Italian auto giant Fiat was very close to partnering up with General Motors. However, that deal went sour at the last minute and a few years after that, Fiat bought a big chunk of Chrysler in its quest to have a large slice of the American market.

Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne is open to the possibility of a partnership with another automaker to help Chrysler-Fiat’s ailing sales in Europe, with Suzuki and Mazda being cited by the CEO as viable options.

Titled “Sled”, Suzuki will be showing off their all-wheel drive 2012 Kizashi sport sedan for this year’s Super Bowl commercial. The Kizashi is also the same vehicle Suzuki showed off in their Super Bowl ad last year, which was the company’s first ever.

The ad was developed by Siltanen & Partners Advertising, and hopes to illustrate the “exhilaration one can receive from upgrading their ordinary daily driver with a more entertaining mode of transportation.” Unfortunately not many of us can relate from having to use a dog sled as a method of transportation, but we think you get the point.

The ad won’t be the only thing Suzuki is kicking off on Super Bowl Sunday. The automaker will also be giving away BARKCODE tags to the first 1,000 consumers to register on www.KizashiKicks.com/sled. Each BARKCODE tag is a personalized pet identification tag with a scannable 2D code, allowing pet owners to be reunited if their furry friends become lost or misplaced during a natural disaster. With each tag ordered, BARKCODE will donate $3.00 on behalf of Suzuki to the American Red Cross.

Watch the commercial after the break.

Suzuki is working closely with Fiat to increase their supply of diesel-powered cars in India.

There’s the Honda N-Box and the Daihatsu Pico, but nothing at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show can compare to the extreme levels of cuteness on display at the Suzuki booth.

The honeymoon period didn’t last long for Suzuki and Volkswagen and now the Japanese automaker has filed for divorce. In an official statement Suzuki Motor Corp. has announced it will seek arbitration in an attempt to get back the shares the German auto giant currently holds in the Japanese small car manufacturer.

The soap opera between Suzuki and Volkswagen has been ongoing for almost a year and now the Japanese automaker is looking to back out. Suzuki wants to buy back all the 19.9% of its shares that VW currently owns and that if the German automaker does not comply, Suzuki will seek mediation.

While Suzuki cars might not be very popular in North America, in its home market of Japan, they are a very big deal indeed. So to serve their home market, Suzuki is bringing a trio of concept cars for the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show. These are the Regina, Q Concept and the Swift EV Hybrid.

All this is fine when the company is making tons of money, but when a company is in the red, spending lavishly at an auto show is not the smartest thing to do.

You can sound polite and say “inexpensive” but if you’re strapped for cash, the most important question when shopping for a new car is: what’s the cheapest car on the market? AutoGuide has got the answer, along with the nine runners up.

A public disagreement between Volkswagen and Suzuki in early September left the Japanese automaker wanting to end its partnership, but that might not happen. In a news release Monday, the company said it “will retain its stake in Suzuki Motor Corp. unchanged.”

Suzuki may be an also ran in America, but in India, their Maruti Suzuki partnership can boast the title of “best-selling car” with their Alto subcompact. With a population of 1 billion people, the Indian market is a significant one, and the Japanese auto maker is facing competition not just from home grown efforts like Tata, but Hyundai as well.

After a two year alliance between Volkswagen and Suzuki, relations and communication quickly deteriorated earlier this September after Suzuki had gone to Fiat to supply their engines. Volkswagen, upset at the deal, very publically claimed it was a serious breach of Suzuki’s contract.

Volkswagen will halt its practice of acquiring auto makers as a means of boosting its total sales volume, according a report by Bloomberg.