General motors willing to spend $20 billion with canadian suppliers

Over 400 Canadian supplier executives attending the tenth GM Canadian Supplier Council seminar in Hamilton, Ont., in November were told that General Motors intends to increase total spending with Canadian suppliers to $20 billion by 2005.

Gary Cowger, president of GM North America (GMNA), was the keynote speaker for the event. He praised the Canadian supplier community for its outstanding performance in winning purchasing contracts that have grown from $3 billion in 1991 to $16 billion in 2002.

Cowger noted, “There’s no question about it. Our goals are ambitious. We want to be the industry’s highest-quality, lowest-cost producer and our expectations are high on our supplier contracts. The additional revenue — at least $4 billion — is there for the taking. The best performing suppliers in quality, service, technology and price will grow with GM.”

Kevin Williams, vice-president of GMNA Quality said, “GM is striving to be the automotive industry quality leader — we won’t settle for second place. The Canadian supply base has demonstrated with two consecutive years of 50% quality gains; they are committed to world-class performance to continue growing their business with General Motors.”