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Among automakers with a big North American presence, General Motors is the worst to work for, according to a new survey from Tier 1 automotive suppliers, conducted by Planning Perspectives, Inc.
The Detroit-based manufacturer, which has been under fire following the ignition switch recall and its accompanying scandal, finished behind six other automakers with big North American manufacturing operations. Suppliers had issues with trust and communication, as well as intellectual property protection. GM was also the least likely to allow suppliers to raise their prices in the face of unexpected increases in material cost, all of which contributed to 55 per cent of suppliers saying their relationship with GM was “poor to very poor.”
GM’s cross-town competitors didn’t fare much better. Chrysler finished in fifth place, ahead of GM and behind Dearborn-based Ford, which was passed for third place this year by Nissan. Toyota took the top marks, while Honda captured second place.
PPI also surveyed suppliers of Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, each of which has considerably smaller manufacturing presence relative to the North American and Japanese brands (there are only three US factories between the three of them). Mercedes and VW were ranked behind GM, while BMW would have been just behind Toyota.
According to Reuters, this survey serves to illustrate a big issue facing American manufacturers – Japanese brands aren’t just on good terms with suppliers, but their relations are actually improving. PPI boss John Henke said the popularity of Toyota and Nissan among suppliers increased considerably, indicating that we “could be entering an era in supplier relations that doesn’t bode well for the US Big Three.”
Auto suppliers call GM the worst car company to work with
Auto suppliers call GM the worst car company to work with originally appeared on Autoblog Canada on Fri, 16 May 2014 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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