Not long after we posted about Suzuki's future product plans (a lot of them involving VW's input), Indian press now reports that the Maruti A-star, or better known to the rest of us as the Suzuki Alto, will be rebadged as a VW.
There are reports of sales the rebadged Alto in Asian markets, but I have checked Indian press sources, which first broke the news, and none of the credible news agencies mention anything about sales in Asian markets. Presently, it seems that the VW Alto will only be sold in Europe, via VW's own sales network. So it is unlikely that this will be sold in as a VW in Asian markets. Over here, VW is positioned as an upmarket premium brand. Would be very hard to make a business case for a VW badged, India sourced budget compact car.
The Maruti A-Star is the first Suzuki car developed by an Indian team, and is made by Suzuki's Indian joint venture firm Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) plant in Manesar, India, presently the sole source of all Altos in the world.
But Maruti / Suzuki is not new to the OEM rebadging business. Presently, two OEM rebadged versions of the Alto are available. Nissan sells the same car, albeit with a different face in Europe as the Pixo, and Pino (previous generation Alto with cuter looks) in Japan while Mazda also sells the current generation Alto as the Mazda Carol in Japan.
Nissan Pino
Maruti A-Star / Suzuki Alto, and its rebadged cousins below.
Nissan Pixo
Mazda Carol
However, VW's past history with rebadged models have not been very positive. In the US, the VW Routan minivan is a rebadged Canadian built Chrysler Town and Country. But sales were so bad production were halted for 1 month back in 2009.
VW Routan
Read more about other rebadged cars here.
See also : Suzuki Motors - future models 2011 - 2014
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