Stellantis, the Netherlands-based owner of car brands including Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Fiat, says it wants to be more green. And it may change the way it works with suppliers to make that happen.
(Unrelated but true story, I was once at an auto press event where someone thought that "green vehicles" literally referred to the color green. But I digress.)
Executives as Stellantis, with North American headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich., seem to acknowledge that the way they've worked with suppliers in the past hasn't been the best way to encourage cooperation between carmakers and suppliers. During an industry conference, Alison Jones, the head of global circular economy at Stellantis, said the company sees room for improvement in its outreach to suppliers, John Irwin from our sister paper Automotive News writes.
That could even change the way Stellantis buys parts, AN noted. But that will require a change to the standard way of buying parts — the request for quotes, or RFQ.
"What typically happens is an RFQ goes out, and then suppliers come to us," Jones said. "What we're trying to do is be aware of suppliers and [have] suppliers come to us before we put an RFQ package out, because there may be opportunities that we haven't considered."
