US Suppliers Rank General Motors As Worst Automaker: Survey

General Motors, already facing a public relations crisis due to an ignition defect that led to the recall of 2.6 million vehicles, has a new perception problem to fight off.

The US company is now considered the “worst automaker to deal with,” according to a survey that covered the country’s top suppliers to the automobile industry. The survey was conducted by Planning Perspectives, Inc (PPI).

According to ‘Tier 1’ suppliers, GM is now their least favourite major customer. They gave GM low marks on all scales, including its overall trustworthiness, communication skills and protection of intellectual property.

"As a result, GM is now the least preferred customer of suppliers," says PPI.

Nissan overtook Ford Motor for the third place in PPI's Supplier Working Relations Index. Dearborn-based Ford was ranked fourth while Toyota and Honda finished at No. 1 and No.2, respectively.

Supplier perceptions of automakers are important as they can determine which car-makers see the suppliers' newest technologies first, says PPI.

John Henke, head of PPI and a research fellow at Centre for Supply Chain Management at Rutgers University, said that the Japanese dominance at the top three places suggested the industry "could be entering an era in supplier relations that doesn't bode well for the US Big Three (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler)."

This is because the Japanese automakers are gaining from deteriorating relations between suppliers and the Big Three.
About 55% of the suppliers surveyed rated their relations with GM as "poor to very poor.”
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