Suzuki Motors Corp. has signed a long-term agreement to use Shell lubricants and oils exclusively in vehicles manufactured at two Suzuki automotive plants in Kosai and Iwata, Japan.
Under the terms of the agreement, all Suzuki vehicles manufactured from July 2007 at the Kosai and Iwata plants will have a Suzuki-Shell label under the engine hood as a symbol of the joint partnership.
Shell Lubricants and Suzuki have had a global partnership since 2004, according to Patricia Singer, spokeswoman for Shell Lubricants in Houston.
So we are their global preferred supplier, Singer told Lube Report. Thats regarding automotive fluids – not just motor oils, but also transmission fluids, brake fluids, hydraulic fluids and greases. Sometimes we are even providing the metalworking lubricants that go into the machinery that helps make the vehicles.
Shell does not currently have similar agreements in Japan to the extent of the Suzuki agreement. We do have other similar global agreements with Skoda, Hyundai, Maserati and Ferrari, she said. We also do work with many automakers in various parts of the world for first-fill and aftermarket.
The agreement announced Aug. 19 extends an alliance formed last year between the two companies, where cars produced at Suzukis automotive manufacturing plant in Esztergom, Hungary, were also fitted with the Suzuki-Shell label. All of the Suzuki vehicles now manufactured at the Kosai andIwata plants in Japan andthe Esztergom plant in Hungarywill use Shell Helix oil in their engines in addition to Quaker State oil made by SOPUS products, a division of Royal Dutch Shell and successor of the Pennzoil-Quaker State Co.