Japanese car company Nissan may have to look for a new partner for its small-car requirements, as its future with current partner Suzuki Motor looks uncertain. Ever since European auto major Volkswagen bought a stake in Suzuki Motor, there has been speculation that the Suzuki-Nissan partnership may end. Currently, Suzuki supplies the Pixo model to Nissan, which is a version of the small car Alto, sold in India. The Pixo competes with other small cars like the Fiat Panda and the Volkswagen Lupo in Europe. So

Nissan’s Executive Vice President, Colin Dodge, said a lot of people believed that the partnership would end, in which case Nissan would have to look for a new small car supplier. Dodge said that no big car company could afford to ignore entry-level cars, as they were becoming increasingly relevant in the current economic situation. Also, Nissan does not yet have the vehicle designs and volumes needed to make European city cars on its own.

Meanwhile, Nissan returned to profit in the last quarter, and is hoping to come out of debt by the end of 2010. Nissan Chief Executive, Carlos Ghosn, said that the company’s potential in the Middle-East countries was not being fully explored and that it would double its market share in the region. When asked to comment on competitor Toyota’s current problems, Ghosn said that other auto companies would get a tactical advantage over Toyota only in the short-term, but things would remain largely unchanged in the long run.