Volkswagen AG’s deal with Suzuki Motor for selling Nissan’s Pixo model has drawn the fingers crossed for Nissan to go in for a new partner for the small car project. Nissan is still to ascertain the pact between VW and Suzuki before making a final decision, said its Executive VP. Nissan is not in a hurry to stall the movement of Pixo amidst the global competition from Fiat SpA’s Panda and VW’s Lupo.
Nissan is already in the tussle over the backfire of Chrysler rejoinder last year in secluding the business of cars and pick ups. The deal with Chrysler came to a jolt once Fiat sneaked into the door of Chrysler. As such there is no final word from either VW nor Fiat nor Nissan in this regard. It was Fiat which rescued Chrysler from the bankruptcy last year in exchange of 20% share in Auburn Hills of Michigan. The earlier pact between Nissan and Chrysler was to make small cars and a full-sized pick up for Nissan from Chrysler ; in turn, Nissan was supposed to make compact sedan for Chrysler for marketing in South America.
But Nissan still believes the life of the deal unless it is feasible for it to go alone for making small cars in Europe. Pixo is akin to Maruti-Suzuki’s Alto and served the vacuum of small car in Europe through Nissan platform. The car is said to meet the norms for availing the government incentives extended for fuel efficient small cars. Thus, Nissan cannot ignore the probable run with the small cars in the European segment, even if Suzuki disappoints with its proposed honeymoon with the German car maker.
In the meantime, Wolfsburg, a Germany based VW is in the helm of utilizing the Suzuki’s technology for its own ranges. In this regard, the German company has set in 35 cooperative projects, it is learnt. Nissan is happy that Suzuki is capable of delivering nearly 30000 units of Pixo annually, which is almost 50% of Nissan’s commitment. However, Renault SA has got 44% share in Nissan.