Honda Motor Co. enjoys the best relations with its parts suppliers, displacing Toyota Motor Corp., which had held the top spot since 2002 in an annual survey of suppliers of the top six vehicle producers in North America.

Detroit's automakers still lag the Japanese, but the gap has narrowed as Japan's leading carmakers have lost ground with suppliers in North America.

Among the U.S. automakers, Ford Motor Co. extended its lead over its domestic rivals after improving its scores for the second year in a row, according to Planning Perspectives Inc., which conducted the survey.

Ford appears to have benefited after bringing a European purchasing manager to Dearborn two years ago, said John Henke, president of Planning Perspectives in Birmingham.

Toyota slipped to second place in the survey after two consecutive years of declining scores.

"Suppliers suggest a potential reason for this drop is a younger, less experienced staff in Toyota's purchasing group for whom 'the Toyota Way' is not yet the way of doing things," Henke said.

Honda's scores also dropped in the past two years, but less than Toyota's. "We've worked on our supplier relations for 30 years," said Honda spokesman Ed Miller. "Having close relationships with our suppliers helps when times are really rough like this."

Chrysler was ranked sixth and last in the survey, which queried 231 Tier One suppliers on how well automakers communicate their needs and plans, how much they respond to suppliers' financial needs, and whether they are trustworthy with technology and other confidential information.