Rich Spivey, VP of Purchasing for Honda, U.S. will be speaking to my MBA class Monday night. I know that he may have little to do with TSX purchasing, but I thought you guys might want the opportunity to suggest some ideas for questions or topics that I could talk to him about.

Context: My class is on buyer/supplier relaions and centers around the B2B strategies & tactics in use in auto industry purchasing. I was thinking about crafting a question that asked about Honda's loyal following and if that consumer segment was considered when spec-ing out new systems (like the sweet Honda interiors that we all love).

Thanks for your input.

 

Ask him f he's buying any....

- Turbo's
- V8's
- RWD platforms

 

 

Lol, dont they have to be available for him to purchase them? I think by purchaser they mean that he decides what quantities of stuff to purchase from Honda Motor Corp for distribution to Honda America.

So... if the turbos and the V8's and the RWD's from the factory dont exist yet... then doesn't that mean he can't get them?

 

I think his role is to work with the suppliers on the development and sourcing after the strategies are established. The way Honda, Toyota and Nissan are structured, their purchasing guys get involved during the design stages. So....if those things are on the horizon, there is a good possibility Rich will know about them. I will ask him about RWD, Turbo and V8 if I can.

 

Hmm... good point... i knew that... but i guess it slipped my mind.
I guess it all depends. If there's a V8 that will be available in the near future it will probably only be for models that are made in the US only. Anything that comes out in Japan and europe will have to be fairly fuel efficient since gas prices aren't like they are here.

But anything is possible i guess.

 

Ask him what car is he driving currently?

And if $ is not an issue, what would he drive?

 

I was just being a smartass......

 

I am interested to hear what he has to say about the interior look & feel, material quality and luxury equipment differentiation between the TSX and NA Accord.

In a question, it would basically be:
Does it save Honda significant amount of $ by using somewhat lower level of interior and less luxury equipment on the NA Accord?

 

IF? Lol, he's the VP of Purchasing for Honda of America, I'm gonna take a guess here and say money isnt an issue....

 

Ask him to buy me a car

 

My sisters boyfriends uncle (sounds a bit like that part in spaceballs) is the VP of Sales for Acura.. He gets free company cars like tl's and mdx's (which he likes best cuz he has a family) every like 6 months. He's a really nice guy. Too bad I can't get any good tsx deals from him

 

Reminds me of the scene from Ferris Buellers Day Off

 

Well....My baby moma's babysitter's 2nd cousin's friend...


I agree with everyone else. Ask him about a Turbo, Turbo TSX to be more specific!

 

In terms of rwd, Honda has the s2000 and they tried the awd during the late the 80's and the cars didn't do to well, hopefully Honda has refined their technology within the past 10 years.

 

Oh... lol

 

How about asking him why the rear camber is off in the TSX from the factory and there's still not yet a TSB out for it yet? Or better yet, ask him since they already know about this; how come they are still producing TSX's with the rear camber off from the factory and they know about it.
They usually have to do a balancing/alignment since they at a minimum have to align the tierods and stuff before the car either leaves the US port on the west coast or even before it leaves the factory. So you KNOW that they KNOW that the rear camber is off.

 

What rear camber off? Do I need to bring mine back to the dealer to correct???

 

Well... everyone here is getting camber kits for the rear. Also, there was some guy that was really PO'ed on here because his rear camber was "out of spec" since he bought it new. And the dealer said that the only way to correct it was to get a rear camber kit, or to "bend" a suspension component.

 

tell him Honda should buy better platics