...and VW mishears Suzuki

Shortly after Japanese carmaker Suzuki talked of snapping ties with Volkswagen, Europe's largest carmaker said the problems stemmed from different interpretations between the two companies.

VW said the collaboration with Suzuki has been reduced to a financial one rather than the technical alliance envisaged in 2009. The German company was hoping Suzuki would help it gain ground in India through market leader Maruti, which is its subsidiary.

"The partnership happened because Suzuki wanted our help in hybrid technologies while we thought we can have some synergies with them in emerging markets like India," said Ulrich Hackenberg, member of the board of management, Volkswagen.

"Maruti Suzuki is doing a very good job in India and it was possible to learn a lot from them. However we were not in line with (their) interpretations."

Relations between the two firms became strained after Suzuki expanded its diesel engine technology sharing tieup with Italy's Fiat to include a 1.6-litre powertrain for the SX4 in June. Suzuki offered to end the alliance and buy back VW's shares, but the latter said it has no plan to sell the stake.

"Suzuki remains a very good positive investment financially and we do not have any intention to sell that stake," Hackenberg said. "There is no joint engineering project on the table with Suzuki so I have nothing further to say on this."