Jan brings together Dave Andrea and Dr. Angela Johnson from Plante Moran, along with returning guest Sig Huber, to explain what’s behind the scores and what they mean for supplier relationships in today’s automotive world.
Toyota didn’t just maintain its lead; it widened it. The difference? Consistency, buyer accessibility, and a move to streamline supplier systems into a single platform. Suppliers asked for more visibility, and Toyota delivered.
GM, after several senior leadership changes, continues to show steady progress. A renewed focus on transparency, buyer empowerment, and cross-functional alignment is changing how suppliers experience the company. And it’s working.
On the other hand, Ford’s story is death by a thousand cuts. There was no single failure—just a build-up of delays, unclear communications, and internal silos that made it hard for suppliers to get what they needed.
Stellantis, still at the bottom, might be in the early stages of a turnaround. Leaders like Marlo Vitous and Antonio Filosa are more visible, engaged, and pushing for change, and suppliers are noticing.
One of the biggest takeaways? Empowerment at the buyer level. Toyota’s edge comes from enabling people on the ground to make decisions. GM is starting to adopt that mindset. Ford and Stellantis are still catching up. Suppliers want faster answers, stronger advocacy, and relationships built on trust—not red tape.
And yes—getting buyers back in the office made a difference, too. Suppliers responded positively to buyers being on-site and re-engaging face-to-face. One team even linked their score improvement directly to getting buyers back in three days a week.
They end the episode with a reminder of why the WRI matters. Good supplier relationships lead to better outcomes. In the top 3 OEMs, there’s a same-year correlation between WRI scores and financial results. The message to OEMs is that relationships drive performance, and the numbers prove it.
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