For the first time in 26 years of the Working Relations Index, every single North American OEM moved up the chart. Ford, Toyota, Stellantis, Honda, GM, and Nissan all scored higher than the year before. That has never happened. Not once.
In this special episode, Jan sits down with Dr. Angela Johnson, principal at Plante Moran responsible for the WRI, along with Sig Huber, Chief Commercial Officer of Elm Analytics and former supplier risk leader at Toyota and Fiat Chrysler. Three sharp voices. One story the industry needs to hear.
Tariffs. EV cost recovery. Permacrisis fatigue. Return-to-office mandates. Four undercurrents shaped this year's results, and they all point to the same place. When OEMs can't control the macro, they lean into what they can control. Communication. Accessibility. Buyer responsiveness. Taking the meeting. Listening. Acting. That's what moved the needle, and the suppliers noticed.
Ford's 32-point jump is the second-largest gain in WRI history, and Liz Door led that charge from the top. Stellantis is showing the early signs of a real turnaround under Filosa. GM's still working through cultural inertia, but the relationship side keeps moving in the right direction. And Toyota and Honda aren't slowing down.
Angela also unpacks her new 6C framework. It's the bridge between transactional and relational. Commercial fairness, consistency, clear expectations, communication, continuity, and collaboration. It's the structure the industry's been missing.
But here's the harder truth. The next 18 to 24 months will test every relationship in this industry. Cost of goods sold is climbing. Supplier financial distress is creeping back. Cross-functional alignment inside the OEMs is slipping. The playbook's changing. The question isn't whether we can do this together. It's whether we will.
Here's the link to the WRI 2026 Study
Themes Discussed in this Episode
- First-time-ever WRI result: all six OEMs scored up
- Permacrisis fatigue and the shift toward collaboration
- Tariffs, EV cost recovery, and commercial fairness
- The 6C framework: bridging transactional and relational
- Ford's record-setting jump and Liz Door's leadership
- Stellantis's rebound under Filosa
- GM's ongoing culture change
- Top 50 suppliers, organizational memory, and cultural inertia
- Return-to-office mandates and buyer performance
- Cross-functional decline inside the OEMs
- From cost reduction to resilience: the playbook is changing
🎥 Watch the full episode on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@jangriffithsautomotiveleaders
This episode is sponsored by Lockton, click here to learn more
Featured Guest: Dr. Angela Johnson – Principal, Plante Moran
Dr. Angela Johnson leads Plante Moran's supplier relations analytics and oversees the team that runs the annual Working Relations Index (WRI) Study. She brings more than 30 years of automotive experience at General Motors across multiple functions, paired with a doctorate in Industrial Engineering from Wayne State University.
Angela helps organizations understand how trust, governance, and day-to-day commercial behaviors shape performance across large manufacturing ecosystems. She is also the architect of the 6C framework introduced in the 2026 WRI Study.
Featured Guest: Sig Huber – Chief Commercial Officer, Elm Analytics
Sig is the Chief Commercial Officer of Elm Analytics, a leading source of supplier financial health and risk data. Before Elm, Sig ran supplier risk management for Toyota and global supplier risk management for Fiat Chrysler, giving him a rare view from both the top and the bottom of the WRI scale.
He is a frequent voice on the show when the conversation turns to supplier resiliency, financial distress, and the operational realities of managing risk across a global supply network.
About Your Host – Jan Griffiths
Jan Griffiths is the champion for culture change and the host of the Automotive Leaders Podcast. A former automotive executive with a rebellious spirit, Jan is known for challenging outdated norms and inspiring leaders to ditch command and control. She brings honesty, energy, and courage to every conversation, proving that authentic, human-centered leadership is the future of the automotive industry.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Episode Highlights
[01:21] A first in 26 years: Every single North American OEM moved up the WRI chart this year. That's never happened before. Jan sets the table for why this result matters.
[03:43] 10,000 supplier comments and a real tone shift: Angela describes more than three times as many comments as in prior years, with less frustration and finger-pointing. Suppliers are putting real thought into it because they believe the OEMs are listening.
[06:21] The four undercurrents: EV, tariffs, return-to-office, and permacrisis fatigue. Angela breaks down the forces driving this year's results and why suppliers are giving OEMs credit for leaning into what they can control.
[09:36] The 6Cs: the bridge between transactional and relational: Angela introduces her new framework. Think of it as a Maslow's hierarchy of supplier relationships. Commercial fairness, consistency, clear expectations, communication, continuity, and collaboration.
[12:00] Ford's 32-point jump and Liz Door's leadership: The biggest OEM gain this year and the second-largest in WRI history. Angela credits Liz Door for engaging the supply base, taking meetings, and driving those behaviors all the way down to the buyer level.
[14:12] Stellantis's strong rebound: A 22-point jump under new leadership. Sig shares what he's seen working with Filosa in Brazil and why consistency and continuity will determine whether this turnaround sticks.
[18:57] GM's culture change keeps moving: GM hit its highest-ever WRI score. The relationship side keeps trending up even as suppliers pushed back on some resiliency initiatives.
[25:38] Cross-functional alignment is slipping: A fascinating data point. Across the board, suppliers reported a decline in OEM cross-functional integration. Angela and Sig dig into why uncertainty inside the OEMs may be the cause.
[29:14] The 100-pound backpack: organizational memory and cultural inertia: Top 50 suppliers still rate the Detroit Three below their average and Nissan, Honda, and Toyota above. Angela's analogy lands hard. The Detroit Three are walking uphill with a 100-pound backpack, while Toyota, Honda, and Nissan cruise by on e-bikes with turbo boost.
[34:13] Return-to-office is showing up in the data: Buyer accessibility, responsiveness, and issue resolution all improved. Angela makes the call: getting people back in the office is helping supplier relationships. The data backs it up.
Top Quotes
[01:21] Jan Griffiths: “Never, ever in 26 years have all six OEMs shown an increase, and that's hard to imagine with everything that we've had to deal with in 2025 and the early part of 2026.”
[12:40] Dr. Angela Johnson: “Liz led this charge. She engaged for the supply base, took meetings with the supply base, communicated more with the supply base, and she drove those behaviors down through her organization.”
[32:08] Dr. Angela Johnson: “There's a bit of Stellantis, GM, and Ford are walking up a hill carrying a 100-pound backpack. They have to put in more effort. Meanwhile, Nissan, Toyota, and Honda go cruising by them on an e-bike with a turbo boost.”
[36:00] Dr. Angela Johnson: “I am convinced there are enough indicators in the data to say getting everybody back in the office more, definitely beneficial to your supplier relationships.”
[32:49] Sig Huber: “What's happening with all of these disruptions that are coming one after the other after the other, you can't deal with that on a brute force basis.”
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