[DCDude]

I saw a story earlier today re: an automotive parts supplier called Dr. Schneider becoming insolvent.

Automotive supplier Dr. Schneider is insolvent

The article above says the following:

"Customers include the car manufacturers Audi, BMW, Daimler, Ferrari, Jaguar Toyota and Volvo. According to the information, the portfolio includes ventilation systems, decorative panels, cladding and attachments as well as storage systems and center consoles."

Given I'm waiting on production of a car at the end of September, that sounds really #$%^ing bad.

Dr. Schneider Website

Any ideas what happens in this scenario? Does BMW maintain a sufficient stock of parts to sustain disruption from a vendor for a month or so, or am I %#@#ed?

[BMW012]

Usually, manufacturers keep more than one supplier for a certain part. Just an example are the tires. One model can come with multiple brands.

[LuvMyE92]

Some parts have multiple suppliers, others have only one due to engineering, materials, etc. It's hard for us commoners to know which is which.

I remember a story once from long ago when Chrysler was going down the tubes, and we were in a recession. Ford looked at every single supplier that they had, and tried to determine if they (the supplier) would survive the loss of Chrysler as a customer, and if not, who they could get to replace them. It was a massive effort that proved to be unnecessary, but it pointed out the excellent leadership that Ford had at the time.

One would hope after all the turmoil that's been going on for the past two years that most other manufacturers are going through or have already gone through similar exercises.