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Volkswagen forced to sell stake in Suzuki

The six-year-long failed marriage between Volkswagen and Suzuki has finally come to an end. Almost. An arbitration panel in London issued its final verdict which, according to a VW press release, cleared Suzuki in terminating the agreement, so VW now needs to get rid of its 19.9-percent share. However, the tribunal's decision said VW performed all of its obligations and Suzuki didn't – the Japanese carmaker should have given VW last-call rights for a delivery of diesel engines, but failed to. The breach opens Suzuki up to damage claim, but so far VW only says it reserves the right to sue. Now that Suzuki has an outside investor to provide funds it meant to get from VW, perhaps both can get back to their reasons for being. The press release is below. Ruling in arbitration proceedings: Cooperation between Volkswagen and Suzuki deemed terminated - Arbitral tribunal confirms Volkswagen met contractual obligations and finds that Suzuki has ordinary right to terminate agreement based on reasonable notice - Volkswagen to dispose of its 19.9 percent stake in Suzuki and expects positive effect on Company's earnings and liquidity from transaction - Arbitrators also find that Suzuki breached its contractual obligations to Volkswagen under the agreement and that Volkswagen has right to claim damages Wolfsburg, 30 August 2015 - An arbitral tribunal in London has announced its ruling in the dispute between Suzuki Motor Corporation and Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft. As a result, cooperation between the two parties is deemed terminated. The arbitrators confirmed that Volkswagen met its contractual obligations under the cooperation agreement and found that Suzuki has terminated the agreement upon reasonable notice. Volkswagen will therefore now dispose of its 19.9 percent stake in Suzuki and expects a positive effect on the Company's earnings and liquidity from the transaction. The arbitral tribunal also confirmed that Suzuki breached its contractual obligations to Volkswagen under the agreement and that Volkswagen has the right to claim damages. "We welcome the clarity created by this ruling. The tribunal rejected Suzuki's claims of breach and found that Volkswagen met its contractual obligations under the cooperation agreement. Nevertheless, the arbitrators found that termination of the cooperation agreement by Suzuki on reasonable notice was valid, and that Volkswagen must dispose of the shares purchased.

Suzuki Jimny Black Bison is real, looks ready to stomp on other off-roaders

The internet darling Suzuki Jimny strikes again, except this time it's considerably less cute in the Wald Black Bison getup. We drove the little SUV late last year and found it to be good, rollicking fun, but this modified version looks like the little ute's foil. Mechanically, the Jimny Black Bison is similar to the normal Jimny. This means it has a 1.5-liter four-cylinder that makes all of 99 horsepower and 95 pound-feet of torque. Yep, that probably wouldn't fly in the U.S. The G-Wagen appearance absolutely would, though. A lift and side-exit exhaust appear to be the most obvious modifications we can see from the photos. The exhaust looks like a page straight out of AMG's playbook for the G-Wagen. Wald has added more than a few extra body parts to make this off-roader look unique. It starts with the aggressive tire and wheel setup, which in turn requires the huge fenders. This gives the Jimny its super aggressive stance you see here. A new front and rear bumper, plus grille, ensure it doesn't look disjointed as a whole. If you like lights, you have plenty of them to choose from here. Additional LEDs are mounted in the lower bumper area, and a couple banks of roof lights are equipped to light the trail ahead. The hood has two massive nostrils that surely aren't necessary for the little engine underneath, but we recognize the commitment to the theme. Finally, there's a roof spoiler that extends higher than any roof spoiler needs to from a car with a top speed of 90 mph. We imagine all the extra bits lower the top speed even further on the Black Bison. No word yet on availability of the Suzuki Jimny Black Bison edition. This vehicle was revealed at the Osaka Auto Messe by Wald, so it's not an official Suzuki vehicle by any means. It would be neat to see the full conversion kit offered to Suzuki owners, but individual sale of the parts is the most likely scenario. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Suzuki reopens India plant post-riot with police outnumbering workers

Suzuki's plant in Manesar, India builds cars for Australia, specifically its Alto small car. Or at least they were building cars before violent worker riots forced the factory to close. The plant has been idled for five weeks as a result of worker violence that led to the death of one manager and 95 injuries. The riot was spurred over a labor dispute - specifically, a gulf in salaries between temporary workers and their salaried counterparts who earn triple the contract workers' wages.
According to reports, on Tuesday, the factory re-opened with more than 1,200 police officers stationed around the plant. The staff of actual workers at the plant numbers just 75 currently, meaning the police force greatly outnumbers Suzuki employees.
The number of employees will eventually grow to 300, and the officers will run in shifts of 100 at a time, but the initial disparity of workers to police is meant as a show of force to the more than 500 permanent and 500 temporary workers who were found to be involved in a July 18 riot.