Toyota North American senior VP Dennis Cuneo said at a recent conference in Detroit, Michigan that automakers
must cooperate more with their parts suppliers. In his declaration, he noted that 10 of Toyota’s 15 suppliers are
currently in bankruptcy. Such situations point to automakers’ price-oriented focus, demanding cuts even when
supppliers are faced with rising material costs. Cuneo maintains that healthy supplier relations are in the best
interest of everyone, as many different automakers use the same suppliers, and cultivating less adversarial
relationships can cut costs down and prevent bankruptcies.
Suppliers, on the other hand, consider Toyota
one of their best customers, who works closely with them to reduce prices on parts before they are built. Cuneo states
that his company’s approach is one of their chief advantages, and he said he was ‘pleased’ that Chrysler, Ford, and
General Motors are trying similar approaches. Of course, GM’s ‘bid packages’ disaster (here)
probably isn’t the only such fiasco lurking out there, foreign or domestic.
[Source: MarketWatch]