Toyota begins to restructure its supply base

One of the long established features of the Japanese automotive components supply chain is the stakes held in major suppliers by the likes of Toyota. European and American vehicle companies have previously separated off their once in-house suppliers—such as Visteon at Ford or Delphi at GM—and then seen these once major suppliers fail and be broken up. Some in-house production of components remains at Western vehicle companies but on a much smaller scale and less impactful than it once was. Things are different in Asia: Hyundai has numerous suppliers bearing its name, such as Mobis and Transys, which are effectively vertically integrated (if part-owned) suppliers. These ‘chaebols’, whereby a major company like Hyundai owns controlling stakes in suppliers, remain common in Korea, but things are changing in Japan.