Suzuki

Maruti Suzuki's Plant D at Hansalpur, Gujarat has entered commercial production, lifting the site's annual capacity from 750,000 to 1 million units - the first time any single Suzuki factory worldwide has reached that figure. Plant D's first model off the line is the e Vitara.

Maruti Suzuki has launched a facelifted Brezza for India with a new 1.0-litre turbo Boosterjet mild-hybrid engine making 110 hp, alongside the carryover naturally aspirated and CNG versions. Prices run from about $7,700 to $14,200; the compact SUV remains exclusive to the Indian market.

Suzuki has updated the second-generation Hustler and its Tough Wild off-road variant. Both are on sale in Japan now. The powertrain is unchanged - 660cc mild hybrid - but the exterior styling and safety equipment have been revised.

The Volkswagens sold in China are built by two companies, and one of them is Chinese. That arrangement started in 1983 as a condition of entry, and it has since produced badges that exist nowhere else: Jetta, Wuling, and AUDI in block capitals with no rings. Who holds which half, which brands the ventures invented for themselves, and which of the old partnerships have quietly ended.

Japan's carmakers stay overwhelmingly Japanese-controlled, but the ownership lines are still tangled - Toyota holds minority stakes in three of its own rivals, and Nissan, Mitsubishi and Renault are locked into a 25-year cross-shareholding pact that a 2025 Honda-Nissan merger attempt failed to simplify.