TOYOTA, HONDA LEAD IN SUPPLIER RELATIONS

Autobeat Daily July 11, 2003

U.S. auto suppliers say Honda and Toyota are the best OEMs to do business with, according to an annual survey by Planning Perspectives Inc., a management consulting firm in Birmingham, Mich.

Suppliers say all OEMs want low prices. But they credit Honda and Toyota for balancing price and quality and showing more concern about their economic viability and ability to maintain profit margins.

Honda and Toyota scored 30% higher as business partners and 50% higher in trustworthiness than Detroit’s Big Three automakers. Suppliers also criticized domestic OEMs for their poor communications, disruptive last-minute engineering changes and conflicting internal objectives.

The survey, based on responses earlier this year from 279 tier one suppliers, found suppliers three times as likely to describe price cuts to Honda and Toyota as the

result of loyalty to the companies. They say they grant concessions to domestic OEMs because of threats to reduce their current business.