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Suzuki has bought back a nearly 20% stake held by Volkswagen for 460 billion yen ($3.8 billion).

The Japanese carmaker bought almost 120 million shares at 3,842.50 yen each in after-hours trading on September 17, ending a partnership between the carmakers.

The deal between Suzuki and Volkswagen soured soon after it was formed in 2009.

Last month, an international arbitration court ordered the German carmaker to sell its holding.Suzuki buys back stake held by Volkswagen

The tie up, which resulted in Volkswagen becoming Suzuki’s biggest shareholder, included co-operation on technology and expansion in emerging markets like India, where the Japanese carmaker had a leading position.

However, Suzuki filed for arbitration in November 2011 after the partnership failed.

The carmakers had agreed to work together on fuel-efficient cars, but Suzuki accused Volkswagen of withholding information it had promised to share.

Volkswagen, meanwhile, had objected to a deal Suzuki made to buy diesel engines from Italian carmaker Fiat.

In a statement, Suzuki said that it did not see a need to change its earnings forecasts for the business year ending in March 2016 in light of the share purchase.

Shares of Suzuki, Japan’s fourth largest carmaker, jumped as much as nearly 5% in Tokyo after the announcement.

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An International Chamber of Commerce’s ruling has settled a four-year dispute between carmakers Volkswagen AG and Suzuki Motor over their failed partnership.

The court ruled that VW should sell its 19.9% stake in Suzuki.

Japan’s Suzuki first requested the sale of VW’s shares in 2011 after a plan to collaborate on new technology failed, but the German firm had refused.

Suzuki’s chairman Osamu Suzuki said it “used to feel as if a small bone were stuck in my throat…I feel so refreshed now”.

“It was a precious experience,” he said.

“I learned there are different types of companies.”Suzuki and VW alliance terminated

Asked about future partnerships with VW Osamu Suzuki said “you will not remarry someone you have divorced”.

For its part, Volkswagen said: “We welcome the fact that there is now clarity. The co-operation between the two companies has now been ended.”

VW and Suzuki had agreed to work together on fuel efficient cars but Suzuki accused VW of withholding information it had promised to share, while VW objected to a Suzuki deal to buy diesel engines from Fiat.

As part of the 2009 agreement, VW bought the Suzuki stake as a way of it gaining access to the Indian market for small cars, where the Japanese firm had a leading position.

Suzuki said it planned to buy back the shares from VW at a “reasonable” price, which one analyst told Reuters was likely to be Friday’s closing price of 4,151.5 yen ($34.1).

In a statement, Suzuki said it did not foresee any financial impact on its full-year earnings.

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Japanese carmaker Toyota has raised its forecast for annual profit as a weak yen and a recovery in sales in the US continue to boost its growth.

Toyota now expects to make a net profit of 1.48 trillion yen ($14.8bn) for the current financial year, up from its earlier projection of 1.37 trillion yen.

The carmaker raised the outlook as it said earnings for the April to June quarter had jumped 93% from a year ago.

Many Japanese firms have seen a surge in profits thanks to the weakening yen.

The yen has fallen by nearly 25% against the US dollar since November, after the government unveiled a series of aggressive policy moves.

A weak currency not only makes Japanese goods more affordable to foreign buyers but also helps to boost profits of exporters when they repatriate their foreign earnings back home.

On Friday, Toyota reported a net profit of 562 billion yen in the three months to the end of June, up from 290 billion yen during the same period last year.

Toyota has raised its forecast for annual profit as a weak yen and a recovery in sales in the US continue to boost its growth

Toyota has raised its forecast for annual profit as a weak yen and a recovery in sales in the US continue to boost its growth

The company said that cost cutting measures had also helped to lift its earnings during the quarter.

“Operating income increased due to the impact of foreign exchange rates and our global efforts for profit improvement, through cost reduction activities such as companywide value analysis,” Takuo Sasaki, chief marketing officer for Toyota, said in a statement.

Takuo Sasaki added that the “enhancement of the model mix and pricing” had also helped to boost profits.

Toyota also set a worldwide production target of 10.1 million vehicles for the 2013 calendar year, which would be a record across the industry.

It kept its sales goal for the year at 9.96 million vehicles, making it a close race with US rival General Motors for the title of world’s top carmaker.

Toyota said it sold 1.3 million vehicles in the US, its biggest market, in the January to July period, up 8% from a year ago.

The US accounts for nearly a quarter of Toyota’s global sales.

However, Toyota saw slower-than-expected growth in Southeast Asia, its third biggest market after North America and Japan.

Toyota sold about 539,000 vehicles in the region in the January-June period which was the same as last year, but 15% below the industry-wide growth.

European car sales were 10.3% lower in March 2013 from a year earlier, the 18th consecutive month of falls.

The figures, from the Association of European Carmakers (ACEA) showed most carmakers saw sales drop, with Peugeot Citroen and Toyota suffering the most.

Continuing economic stagnation across Europe has depressed sales for almost six years.

The UK was the only country in Europe where sales rose, with registrations up by 5.9%.

Germany, the best performing economy in the eurozone, saw the biggest fall in sales of 17.1%, with France just behind with a drop of 16.2%.

European car sales were 10.3 percent lower in March 2013 from a year earlier, the 18th consecutive month of falls

European car sales were 10.3 percent lower in March 2013 from a year earlier, the 18th consecutive month of falls

“The car industry is suffering just as the European economy is suffering,” said motor industry analyst Christian Stadler, associate professor of strategic management at Warwick Business School.

The falls came despite hefty incentives on offer to buyers of new cars.

The Reuters news agency said that average retail sales incentives in the top five markets – Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Spain – had risen 13% to almost 2,400 euros ($3,200) per vehicle.

Last month, 1.31 million cars were registered in Europe.

Peugeot and Toyota were the worst affected manufacturers, with sales falling more than 16% from a year earlier, Volkswagen also suffered a sharp drop, with sales down 15% and the US carmaker General Motors saw sales fall by 12.8%.

Peugeot has forecast a sales fall of up to 5% this year, although since that guidance was given the chief executive has said that the outlook has worsened.

Jaguar was the only carmaker to see serious gains, with sales up by 21%. Mercedes also saw sales rise, although only by 0.8%.

“There are firms bucking the trend, like Jaguar Land Rover who are positioned well in the emerging markets, and you see that those high-end brands aimed at richer customers are not doing as badly,” said Christian Stadler.

“Car firms positioned in this way will be able to avoid the worst of the European slowdown.”

In a separate announcement, Toyota, which was a pioneer of petrol-electric hybrid vehicles with its Prius model in 1997, said sales of these and its other hybrid models had now passed five million.

Toyota said it had sold a total 5.125 million hybrid vehicles by the end of March, and they now accounted for 14% of its global sales.

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Carmaker Ford shares have fallen 3.9% in early Wall Street trading on the rising cost of fixing its European business.

Ford cautioned that 2013 losses in Europe would be $2 billion, greater than its previous $1.5 billion estimate.

The stock market reacted negatively, despite Ford reporting profits for the last three months of 2012 that beat expectations thanks to strong US sales.

Earnings after tax for the quarter were $1.6 billion, with underlying profits up 55% from the same period in 2011.

Revenues rose 5% overall, driven by a 13% rise in North America.

Ford boasted that its North American unit had enjoyed its most profitable fourth quarter and year since it first began recording the region’s performance in 2000.

The contrasting fortunes of the number two US carmaker on either side of the Atlantic reflect the broader market trends. While total US car sales hit a post-financial-crisis high last year, 2012 sales in Europe fell more than 8% from the previous year.

Ford shares have fallen 3.9 percent in early Wall Street trading on the rising cost of fixing its European business

Ford shares have fallen 3.9 percent in early Wall Street trading on the rising cost of fixing its European business

Ford, like many rivals, is in the process of downsizing its European business to reflect the shrinking market, with resulting losses due to redundancy payments and the write-off of the value of factories and other assets it owns in the region.

The company said these costs were turning out to be more than expected, thanks to the strength of the euro and the higher valuation of employee pension claims. It has also marginally cut its forecast for total European sales in 2013.

To add to the firm’s woes on the continent, chief financial officer Bob Shanks admitted to investors that the delayed launch of the new Mondeo in Europe would cost Ford several hundred million dollars in missed revenues.