Suzuki, VW mum on clash

Volkswagen and Suzuki have moved a step closer to resolving a long-running dispute over their failed partnership.

Suzuki filed for international arbitration in 2011 after VW repeatedly refused to sell back a 19.9% stake it acquired in the Japanese car maker for $2.3-billion in 2010.

A London-based arbitration court has now wrapped up the witness hearings and is expected to issue a ruling before the end of the year, two sources said.

It is the first development in the saga since Suzuki filed for arbitration a week after terminating its accord with VW in November 2011.

Both VW and Suzuki declined to comment yesterday.

"I don't think it should take too long," Suzuki chairman Osamu Suzuki said last month. "I would like for it to reach a conclusion soon in some way, but because it is already under arbitration, we can't really say anything."

The two agreed on a tie-up in 2009, pledging to cooperate on technology such as hybrid and electric cars and on expanding in emerging economies such as India, where Suzuki's venture partner Maruti Suzuki India is market leader.

But after failing to agree on projects, Suzuki accused its German partner of withholding the hybrid technology it had promised to share and pushing plans to dominate the sector. VW, in turn, was upset about Suzuki buying diesel engines from Fiat.

"Expectations for cooperation between VW and Suzuki are close to zero after this long impasse," said Frankfurt-based Bankhaus Metzler analyst Juergen Pieper. "Should they still find a way to work together, it would be beneficial for VW."