Honda Kicks Toyota to the Curb in Parts Survey

Spurring along a few personal feelings I will also throw into the mix, I have to report that Honda kicked Toyota’s bumper in a survey taken by customers of their parts businesses. Honda overtook Toyota as the top company that auto parts suppliers prefer to do business with, according to an annual survey released Monday. Toyota has been the number one dealer parts supplier since 2002, but its ratings have fallen steadily over the last two years, according to a study by Planning Perspectives Inc., that surveys manufacturing and service industries, based in Birmingham, Michigan. Honda’s marks declined from last year as well, though not by as much. It was just enough of a hold to beat out Toyota this year.

Japanese automakers continued the best relations with their suppliers, with Nissan coming in third among the six automakers ranked. Ford finally raised enough in points to come in fourth, followed by GM and then Chrysler LLC. “While Ford still has a lot of work to do, what they’re doing with their suppliers is working,” said John W. Henke, president and chief executive of Planning Perspectives, in a written statement. Toyota’s customers complained of a younger, less experienced staff. Ford’s improvement was due to its recent decision to “domesticate” the business more and transfer its top European purchasing executive to the U.S. Ford also remains the only automaker among the Detroit “Big Three” that has not accepted government aid so it just seems fitting.

Despite being a Ford guy, I will comment on the Honda-Toyota findings. I sincerely disagree with Toyota’s defeat here. When I worked in the parts business a few years ago, I did corporate sales. I had to do a lot of work with the dealerships and I was actually rather impressed with the Toyota dealers in this area, minus the dealership in Westminster, Maryland. (They went on my “hit list”, for lack of a better term, after a few very bad experiences.) I also owned a Toyota. My first car was a beige 1995 Toyota Corolla. I found it much easier to get dealer parts for that car than some domestics, and I can tell you for sure that Honda parts are not as easy to find and are more expensive. I am not sure why more parts corporations prefer to do business with Honda over Toyota. Not only do I disagree with the findings, but I call into question the accuracy of the survey, because it just makes no sense. Does anyone have an opinion on this? I would love for a reader to shed some light on this or simply tell me which way they lean on this issue.

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