Ford boosts supplier standing to be first U.S. maker in Top 3

Ford Motor Co., following its first annual profit since 2005, became the only non-Japanese automaker ever ranked among the top three in a survey of suppliers.

Ford's rating of its working relationship with partsmakers in North America rose 14 percent, placing it ahead of Nissan Motor Co. to capture third place in the annual Planning Perspectives Inc. ranking that started in 2002. Honda Motor Co., the Tokyo-based leader in the 2010 report, was followed by Toyota Motor Corp. in second place.

Ford and other U.S. automakers "finally realized they can't treat suppliers the way they had been," said John Henke, chief executive officer of Planning Perspectives in Birmingham, Michigan. "They've got to be absolutely vigilant that they don't revert back to their old ways."

Positive relationships with suppliers can help automakers trim costs, improve quality and spur innovation in the design of parts, which typically make up 70 percent of a vehicle's value. Toyota had led the survey since its inception until falling from first place in 2009, and its rating slid a further 2.6 percent this year.

General Motors Co., still ranked in the lower half of the survey, improved the most of the top six U.S. automakers in terms of sales, with the Detroit-based automaker's rating by suppliers gaining 25 percent. Auburn Hills, Michigan-based Chrysler Group LLC, the lowest ranked since 2008, improved by 15 percent. Each company entered and exited bankruptcy last year.