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Answers - USA - QUESTION: What's a supplier?
ANSWER: A company that sells something to an automaker. Suppliers provide an enormous number of diverse products, from brakes to telephone service.
Detroit,Mich,USA -Detroit Free Press, by By Mark Phelan -Oct 10, 2005: ---
Q: Why do they matter?
A: Automakers could not build vehicles without suppliers. Suppliers produce parts that account for more than 70% of the value of the vehicles Chrysler builds, for instance. They also develop a lot of the new technologies car companies use to attract buyers, like antilock brakes and air bags. More than one-third of the 50 biggest companies in Michigan are automotive suppliers, and suppliers employ many thousands of people in the state and hundreds of thousands around the world.
Q: Why are automakers so dependent on these outside companies?
A: Because they can't be experts in every technology, and they get better prices and access to more new ideas by working with independent suppliers. General Motors, Ford and Chrysler used to build nearly all their parts themselves. The inefficiency of doing that led to their cars costing too much and having second-rate technology.
Q: First Visteon, now Delphi. Are all the suppliers in trouble?
A: No. It's mostly the big U.S.-based suppliers, because they depend heavily on GM and Ford for business and have heavy retiree costs. In addition to building fewer vehicles, Ford and GM often insist their suppliers lower the price they charge for parts in each year of a contract... There are many large suppliers that are profitable, for example American Axle, Borg Warner, Robert Bosch GmbH and Denso Corp...
posted by Unknown @ 11:30 AM
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