General Motors and Suzuki officially loosen ties

Confirming rumors that we reported first late last month, General Motors and Suzuki will not be working together to sell cars in Japan anymore, nor will the two automakers follow through with the partnership undertaken in 2001 on development of some new vehicles. A Suzuki spokesperson says that the move stems from a meeting between GM chief Richard Wagoner and Suzuki chairman Osamu Suzuki. The two companies are scaling back their relationship in response to the reduction of GM's stake in Suzuki from 20 percent to three percent. As a result, Suzuki will discontinue the sale of two GM models, one of them being the Chevy TrailBlazer, and the two companies won't be working on the next Chevrolet Cruze compact car (pictured).

[Source: The Daily Yomiuri]