Honda overtakes Toyota for top spot in auto supplier survey

Honda claimed the top spot in an annual survey of automotive suppliers, knocking off Toyota from having the best rating among suppliers.

Toyota dropped to second in the survey by Planning Perspectives Inc., which has conducted the survey since 2002, and Nissan came in third. Of the Big Three automakers from Detroit, Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) came in ahead of the other U.S. giants, followed by General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) and Chrysler LLC, which came in last overall in the survey for the second year in a row.

“Research we began in the early 1990s always showed Toyota as having the best relationship with its suppliers, but something seems to be changing,” said John Henke Jr., president of Michigan-based Planning Perspectives. “They’re looking a little more like U.S. automakers.”

Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMC) reported its sales for April slid 25 percent, and that it would be cutting production as it continues to cope with the economic recession.

Marysville-based Honda of America Manufacturing employs more than 12,000 workers at assembly and engine plants in and around Central Ohio, where they produce Honda Accords, Civics, CR-Vs, Elements and Acura TLs and RDXs.

Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) reported its lost $4.4 billion for the most recent fiscal year, as it continues to deal with the global slump in auto sales.

Chrysler recently filed for bankruptcy and GM is expected to file for bankruptcy protection as early as this week. Both automakers have accepted billions of dollars in bailout funds from the U.S. Treasury Department. Ford is the only member of the Big Three not to take federal bailout funds.

Both Chrysler and GM have announced significant cuts in their dealer networks, and are trimming jobs and looking at closing plants. All of those moves have hit suppliers, particularly the smaller auto suppliers, some of which have had to go out of business.