Suppliers say BMW is best partner; Chery is worst

ERJ staff report (DS)

London -- Suppliers prefer to work with BMW than any other car maker according to the latest Supplier Relations survey from SupplierBusiness. Their least favourite partner is Chery, Automotive followed in the least-favourite stakes by FAWGroup Corp, Dongfeng Motor and SAIC Motor. However, relations are still strained, with no car maker achieving a high mark from its suppliers.

BMW scored 617 out of 1,000 points in the 2012 Supplier Relationship (SuRe) index - a ranking of 28 global automakers done by suppliers. The change means that BMW returns to the top of the study for the first time since 2006. The key reason for the improvement by BMW, according to suppliers, was providing them with the potential to make a profit over the lifetime of a contract, said IHS Automotive analyst Matteo Fini, who led the study.

All car makers remain well below the 650-point level that Fini said indicates a good relationship between the two sides. Porsche, last year's highest ranked automaker was second in this year's report with 611 points while Mercedes-Benz (606), Jaguar Land Rover (599) and Toyota (599) followed.

Overall, the average score for automakers rose to 515 from last year's 514 points, which was the lowest SuRe index total since the statistic started being kept in 2006. This year's score also is well below the average scores recorded in previous years of the study.

Nissan saw a decline of 30 points to 523. The study suggested that the fall is a consequence of Nissan's aggressive demands to cut prices.

Executives at 230 automotive suppliers rated automakers on 29 metrics such as payment terms, quality of communication, keeping agreements on price, demands to achieve high quality, opportunities for new or increased business. Of the respondents, 46 percent have their company headquarters in North America, 40 percent in Europe, 10 percent in Asia and 4 percent in the Middle East and Africa.

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Press release from IHS / Supplier Business