2002 Toyota Camry Xle Sedan 52,600 Miles! 4-door 3.0l Gold Tan Garaged 2nd Car on 2040-cars

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VW, Suzuki mulling rekindling relationship in face of legal battle

Volkswagen and Suzuki have been undergoing marriage counseling in a bid to avoid finalizing their nasty divorce. The blissful union has been troubled for some time, with Volkswagen claiming that it could affect operational decisions at Suzuki, and the Japanese brand's sniping and constant flirting with a certain Italian temptress causing rifts.
The matter first went to court in 2012, when Suzuki demanded VW get out, and leave its 19.9-percent stake in the Japanese brand in a box to the left. Now, Automotive News is reporting that the company will give the relationship one last shot, according to closed-door dealings between the two in London.
Still, it's understood that VW and Suzuki recognize the benefit of their alliance, and that it'd be in the best interests of the kids both parties to make things work. Spokespeople declined to comment to AN, but the newsmagazine spoke with Frank Biller, an analyst for LBBW in Stuttgart, who said, "Both companies stand to benefit if they can overcome the disagreements over leadership claims."

Remembering Suzuki of America... in commercials

American Suzuki Motors is leaving us, but as long as the lights are on at YouTube, its commercials will stay behind to remind of the times we shared. We dug up nine commercials - sort of like a Time Life infomercial for an entire brand - and among the starring actors are the X-90 improving the 90s with the help of a Pez dispenser, the Peter Pan-ish Sidekick, Optimus Prime getting his pipes all smoked up over the 1987 Samurai and an XL7 that would have sold in the millions if its commercial were even half true.
We've also included a remarkably oddball eight-minute featurette/commercial about a giant Suzuki Swift. You'll find the retrospective in the videos below. Enjoy.

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.