FORTUNE — The bad news rolls on for General Motors (GM). Already in trouble for delaying the recall of defective car parts, the company has earned another ignominious distinction: The “least preferred” automaker to do business with, according to a new survey of top U.S. suppliers.
If the Big Three automaker was hoping for relief from the recent storm of bad publicity, the annual survey of “Tier 1” car industry suppliers – released Monday by automotive consulting group Planning Perspectives, Inc. – isn’t it.
Every year, PPI asks the leading suppliers of automotive parts to rate their working relations with major U.S. and Japanese automakers based on criteria like communication, suppliers’ ability to profit and how helpful automakers are in their dealings with suppliers.
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This year’s ranking, based on the opinions of sales people at 362 suppliers, finds GM dead last among its peers in the U.S. and Japan. PPI says GM’s poor showing was caused by declines in “supplier trust, in supplier communication and the amount of help GM provides (or doesn’t provide) to suppliers to reduce cost and improve quality.” Suppliers also trust GM the least when it comes to protecting their intellectual property and proprietary information.
A PPI press release for the survey claims that suppliers’ ratings “can be directly correlated to [an automaker’s] profitability and competitiveness” as well as to the pricing and availability of the manufacturer’s products to customers.
GM isn’t the only member of the Big Three to fare badly. Chrysler Group was also rated in the “poor to very poor range” by suppliers. Ford Motor (F) finished ahead of its U.S. rivals, but still trailed its Japanese counterparts. Honda Motor is the “most preferred” among the six automakers in the survey, trailed by Toyota Motor (TM) and Nissan Motor, respectively.
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Last month, Congress called GM CEO Mary Barra to testify after it was revealed that GM knew for a decade about faulty ignition switches that led to 13 deaths, but had waited until February to recall millions of potentially dangerous cars. The company also announced a second recall of vehicles afflicted with power steering issues in March.
