Suzuki CEO sees long-term relationship with GM
Reuters / January 25, 2007 - 9:00 am

TOKYO (Reuters) -- The head of Suzuki Motor Corp. said today he had agreed with his counterpart at former parent General Motors to maintain their current relationship with a longer-term view.

Suzuki had bought back all but 3 percentage points of the 20 percent stake that GM had held in it to help the cash-strapped U.S. automaker last March, and the two had agreed at the time to leave an option for GM to buy back the shares for up to a year.

"We agreed to maintain the current relationship with a long-term, strategic view," Suzuki CEO Osamu Suzuki told a news conference, adding that he had met with GM CEO Rick Wagoner last November in Japan.

"It's not realistic to expect a company's finances to improve like magic after only a year," he added.
 

Smoke and mirrors.  Both sides know that GM won't buy back the shares, Suzuki is just helping them save face by making the offer.

Maybe this will free up ASMC to persue a more aggresive 4x4 that will compete against a GM offering (ie. H3, H4) or even Jeep.  I always felt GM didn't like a full-bore 4x4, no less from a partner.  They didn't accept the SJ413 as the orginal Geo Tracker, as the plan was originally (folklore)