Stellantis, the company which owns former Chrysler Corporation properties, has widened its last-place position in the annual Plante Moran study of supplier relations.
According to industry insiders, Toyota has maintained its excellent position as the top supplier in every year but two largely by dealing honestly with suppliers. They do not punish people for delivering bad news, according to one source, and when they themselves have bad news, they deliver it as soon as possible and try to soften the blow in other ways, such as paying in advance.
General Motors started out as the lowest company in the group, but CEO Mary Barra’s determined leadership and work on cultural change has pushed GM to be far above Ford or Stellantis, rising up on an intercept course with Honda, the normal #2. Ford, on the other hand, also rose, but then fell precipitously to end up below Nissan.
Oddly, Stellantis/Fiat Chrysler Automobiles was above GM or Ford when the domestics were at their worst, but starting in 2015 has fallen precipitously. Stellantis was the worst company for a supplier to deal with for most of the years from 2008 onwards; Stellantis’ formation seem to have made matters far worse, and the combined company ended up, by far, the worst of the group.
There were many factors involved in Stellantis’ dropping to the bottom. The key factors in the 2025 study are shown on a five-point chart; Toyota clearly engages to build trust, communicates well, and helps to reduce supplier costs and improve quality better than any other automaker in the group. The latter is something Chrysler Corporation excelled in immediately prior to its death in 1998.
Honda was the most responsive company, and similarly accessible to suppliers. General Motors was the top company in accessibility and expertise around suppliers’ areas of business; it does not lag much in any area. Nissan was not best or worst in any area, but was mediocre in all. Ford was worst in engaging to build trust, but was quite low in every category—below Nissan, indeed, in every category, and if Stellantis was not included, it would be by far the worst company. Stellantis was bad in every category, and worst in all but the VP of Procurement engaging to built trust.
Over the past decade, much has changed at every automaker. Toyota was revitalized by the active participation of a Toyoda family member; Nissan broke up with Renault; Mary Barra took over GM; and Fiat Chrysler joined with Peugeot to form Stellantis. There was the COVID crisis which damaged supply chains and crashed demand, then maximized demand when there were low inventories, followed by the adjustment which some automakers were quick to make and others, notably Stellantis don’t seem to have made yet. At Ford, problems tend to be related to internal politics, a perennial issue.
In that time, GM made the highest gains of 86 points on a 500-point scale; Toyota gained by 50. GM started out as the worst (tied with Stellantis), and ended up third best, well above Nissan. Ford dropped by 70 points and Stellantis dropped by 83.
The reasons for Stellantis’ drop are both subtle and obvious. The obvious reasons include publicly demanding large cost cuts and suing several suppliers, but the more subtle reasons are harder to find. Past articles pointed out Stellantis’ lack of empathy for supplier issues. One parts company person pointed out that the company has unrealistic ideas about how well new cars will sell, but demands that suppliers prepare for their full expected volumes. When sales don’t come close to their predictions, they slash production and leave suppliers with surplus parts that they will not pay for. One supplier wrote, “Stellantis is husbanding cash. It tries to pay supplier costs via amortization. Suppliers have no faith that products will be sold in the volumes Stellantis cites and [fear] they will be left high and dry.”
There is hope for the future, given that the problems increased under Carlos Tavares’ leadership. A new leader could cut through the apparent “yes-man” culture which brings inflated sales estimates, work with suppliers more closely and more equitably, and use suppliers to help bring down costs (while helping suppliers reduce their own costs) as Chrysler Corporation did in the 1990s. GM, after all, rose from worst to near-best; in theory Stellantis could, too.
For the moment, as it grows increasingly marginal in North America, Stellantis may think it has bigger problems—but the situation for Chrysler was looking dire in the late 1980s when they started using suppliers and lower-level employees as key resources, too. Chrysler went from basket case to star in profitability and supplier relations; Stellantis could, too.
David Zatz started what was to become the world’s biggest, most comprehensive Mopar site in 1994 as he pursued a career in organizational research and change. After a chemo-induced break, during which he wrote car books covering Vipers, minivans, and Jeeps, he returned with Patrick Rall to create StellPower.com for daily news, and to set up MoTales for mo’ tales.
David Zatz has around 30 years of experience in covering Chrysler/Mopar news and history, and most recently wrote Century of Chrysler, a 100-year retrospective on the Chrysler marque.
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