WHEN a fuel-testing scandal caused Mitsubishi Motors to lose about 40% of its market value in three weeks, Nissan lost no time riding to the rescue with a $2.2bn bailout. Now, it is Suzuki’s turn to be the damsel in distress.Shares in the Japanese car maker slumped as much as 15% on Wednesday after it admitted problems in the way it tested the fuel efficiency of 2.1-million vehicles. They rebounded almost 8% on Thursday before giving up some of the gains, but the question remains: who would be Suzuki’s white knight, should it need one?The best candidate might be found 5,600km away, in New Delhi. As Bloomberg Gadfly pointed out last year, Suzuki’s 56%-owned Indian subsidiary, Maruti Suzuki, has outgrown its parent company and is perfectly set up for a reverse merger.Maruti Suzuki controls nearly half of a vehicle market that is set to be the world’s third-biggest by 2020. Even after a 15% share slide in 2016, its enterprise value still stands at 12.4 times forward 12-month ebitda (ea...
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