Mazda to Source Microvan from Suzuki

Suzuki Motor Corp. will begin supplying its Palette microvan at the end to Mazda Motor Corp., which will sell the model under its own brand, The Nikkei reports.

Nissan Motor Co. already sells versions of the Palette as the Nissan Roox and Roox Highway Star.

The tiny van would be Mazda's seventh minivehicle model sourced by Suzuki under an arrangement that began in 1998, when Mazda stopped making such vehicles. The newspaper, which does not cite its sources, says Mazda hopes to sell about 10,000 rebadged microvans per year, using an unidentified model name.

Minivehicles account for about one-third of Japan's passenger vehicle sales but less than one-quarter of Mazda's domestic volume, according to The Nikkei.