Toyota and its purchasing operations still rank tops in the industry for supplier relationships. Honda still ranks second to only Toyota. General Motors still ranks third. And all three actually saw higher scores from their suppliers than a year ago.
As for the other three automakers in the study, Ford took a slight hit, but it remained solidly in the middle of the pack. And the purchasing departments at Stellantis and Nissan, which have been seesawing for last place in recent years, seesawed once more, with Stellantis at the bottom this year.
Dave Andrea, head of Plante Moran’s strategy and automotive & mobility consulting practice, says the survey results surprised him, too. “Typically, a crisis is not the time to improve established relations,” he noted.
And yet, there it is — one more surprise from the pandemic. Productivity goes up after employees normally in offices are scattered to the wind. Dealer profits rise despite consumers not being able to mill around showrooms. And suppliers rank their automaker purchasing departments higher despite chaos across the system.
Not everyone, of course.
Stellantis’ supplier relations have declined from seven years ago, according to the Plante Moran data, despite the automaker’s upbeat outlook and plans for light-truck growth.
So what explains the ups and downs of these relationships — or for that matter, the ups and downs of any relationship?
It’s not the product line. And it’s apparently not the calamities of the world around you. It’s the people in the equation. It’s who is sitting at the other end of the phone conversation.
It’s who is tasked with sorting out a problem or explaining the latest change in plans. It’s the person who drafts the new policy, and it’s the person who made the decision to implement that policy.