they may also do it for tax reasons: if suzuki starts another division of itself, as a subsidiary, that company can have it's own corporate identity legally. then, because the parent company does not need to sell cars, they can write off the car division as a corporate loss, saving tons of money for the parent company on their tax returns. that is probably the 'real' reason. but i cannot know for sure. and my cynicsm may not be warranted. but...