Yomiuri Shimbun : Suzuki-VW row seen prolonged

[Gorillaks]

Suzuki-VW row seen prolonged / Arbitration likely to terminate ties; new partner may be hard to find : Business : DAILY YOMIURI ONLINE (The Daily Yomiuri)

Suzuki-VW row seen prolonged / Arbitration likely to terminate ties; new partner may be hard to find





Suzuki Motor Corp. Executive Vice President Yasuhito Harayama at a press conference in Tokyo on Friday



Yoichiro Kagawa / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

Suzuki Motor Corp.'s efforts to terminate its business partnership with German automaker Volkswagen AG may be prolonged as Suzuki is expected to seek arbitration by a third party.



Suzuki believes terminating its ties with VW will benefit its management strategy even though this may take some time.



However, many economists predict that the Japanese carmaker will not be able to survive on its own and a prolonged altercation with VW may hamper a tie-up with another partner.



At a press conference Friday, Suzuki Executive Vice President Yasuhito Harayama said, "We demanded many times that VW discuss the termination of our business tie-up, but VW refused."



Suzuki asked VW to terminate their business and equity tie-up on Sept. 12, claiming that the German automaker had breached their contract.



When Suzuki tried to negotiate with VW behind the scenes, the two firms continued to disagree on the sale of Suzuki shares.



Harayama emphasized that Suzuki's decision to terminate the business partnership was taken as a last resort.



Asked how long Suzuki would give VW to settle the dispute before seeking arbitration, Harayama said, "We won't wait too long."



But Harayama also said, "An amicable settlement is the best solution."



He said even after Suzuki entered the arbitration procedure, it could still hold talks with VW to settle the dispute, depending on how the German automaker reacted.



On Friday, VW reiterated its refusal to terminate the business tie-up.



The German automaker denied Suzuki's contention that it had not supplied environmental technology, adding that it was prepared to provide such technology at any time.



VW also has repeatedly called Suzuki shares "an attractive investment."



However, Harayama said: "I don't understand why it continues to say our shares are attractive. Cooperation is poor, additional purchases of shares is impossible and selling them is restricted [because of provisions in the partnership contract]."



Suzuki will try to survive alone after terminating its partnership with VW over the short term.



However, economists believe the automaker will have to tie up with another company in the face of intensifying competition.



Therefore, it is possible termination of the tie-up with VW will adversely affect Suzuki's efforts to seek a future business partner.



In the arbitration Suzuki is considering, resolution of the dispute would be left to a private-sector organization and other authorities.



The Japan Commercial Arbitration Association is the major arbitrator in this country, while the Paris-based International Court of Arbitration is the main global arbitrator.



The actual arbitrators are lawyers and legal scholars in many cases, and their judgments are legally binding.



Major companies involved in previous arbitration cases include Fujitsu Ltd. and IBM Corp., which disputed computer program copyrights in 1985. Suzuki had a previous dispute with the Indian government over appointments of top management of a joint venture in India in 1997.



(Nov. 21, 2011)



-------------------------------------------------------



waw... sampe sidang arbitrase gegara basis K-Car & mesin diesel.

</div>