Suppliers

Battered by bad news throughout 2004 steeply rising commodity prices, automotive production cutbacks, a projected $350 million loss Delphi Corp. could be tempted to put the hammer on its suppliers to make arbitrary price concessions. After all, that tactic has been widely employed in the auto industry to counter red ink or raise profits. As both a supplier itself the world's largest with $28 billion

byDavid C. Smith