New Delhi : Japanese car major Suzuki is planning to develop joint products with Volkswagen for the global markets, which could create new opportunities for Maruti Suzuki.

Suzuki chief Osamu Suzuki, who was in India, said on Tuesday that his company was looking at ways to synergise operations with the German auto behemoth after it bought a 19.9% stake in Suzuki earlier in 2010. "The vehicles would be sold in the global markets in case the joint product development happens," Suzuki told TOI when asked how the two companies planned to strike synergies to drive benefits.

Interestingly, Suzuki's statement comes months after Christian Klingler, a Volkswagen board member, had told reporters that the European auto major could take the help of Maruti in development of a new car that would be placed below the company's Polo compact.

Suzuki said joint component production would be the "starting point" of the engagement between the two companies and will help them reduce costs. And these could be for models that have large volumes. "For Suzuki, it would be wise to develop those models that are sold in India. VW sells large volumes in China," he said. However, the two companies do not have any plans to retail each other's vehicles through their channels.

Suzuki attended the Maruti Suzuki AGM in the morning and announced new investment and expansion plans. He said Maruti will set up a new plant at its Manesar facility at an investment of close to Rs 1,900 crore with a capacity of 2.5 lakh units. This would be part of the Rs 6,125 crore investment the company plans to make till 2013, including for a R&D facility at Rohtak and engine capacity expansion.