Volkswagen buys a piece of Suzuki, eyes world's largest automaker crown

Volkswagen AG (VLKAY) is on its way to becoming the world's largest automaker.

On Wednesday, the maker of the popular Beetle and Jetta models agreed to purchase a 20 percent stake in Suzuki Motor Corp. for $2.5 billion, which will help it gain a foothold in emerging markets like China and India. If the vehicles produced by Suzuki are counted, third-place Volkswagen would be in a neck-and-neck race with first place Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), Edmunds.com senior analyst Michelle Krebs tells DailyFinance. General Motors Corp. (GRM) is currently in second place.