12th overall win for brake technology supplier; honor goes to top 0.5% of GM's 20,000 vendors

From left: Kang Jong-gu, HL Mando sales director; Eric Slawson, production team leader; Jeff Pontius, R&D director; Kim Jae-hyuk, HL Mando executive vice president; and Kimberly Hout, GM global chassis purchasing director, pose for a photo at the GM 2025 Supplier of the Year awards ceremony. [HL Mando]
From left: Kang Jong-gu, HL Mando sales director; Eric Slawson, production team leader; Jeff Pontius, R&D director; Kim Jae-hyuk, HL Mando executive vice president; and Kimberly Hout, GM global chassis purchasing director, pose for a photo at the GM 2025 Supplier of the Year awards ceremony. [HL Mando]

HL Mando, the HL Group's global software-defined vehicle specialist, has been named a General Motors Supplier of the Year for the sixth consecutive year.

The company announced Tuesday it received GM's 2025 Supplier of the Year award — its sixth straight recognition since 2020 and its 12th overall.

GM evaluates suppliers worldwide each year on quality, technology, supply stability and execution, then selects its top performers. This year, 103 companies across 14 countries made the list out of roughly 20,000 suppliers, placing honorees in the top 0.5 percent of the field.

HL Mando was recognized in the brake control category. GM cited the company's rapid communication, consistent quality management, responsiveness in North America and competitive supply capabilities.

The flagship product is the Motor on Caliper, or MoC — an electromechanical brake system with an integrated parking brake function. HL Mando's factory in Alabama has the capacity to produce 7.4 million MoC units annually. As electrification and the shift to software-defined vehicles accelerate, precision control technology for braking systems is emerging as a key competitive differentiator.

"This award is a testament to our North American hub strategy," said Kim Jae-hyuk, executive vice president at HL Mando. "We will deepen our partnership with GM by building on the core capabilities it values most — swift execution, resilience, innovation and agility."

HL Mando views the recognition as further validation of its North American production base and local supply chain management. As global automakers place growing emphasis on supply chain stability and local responsiveness, the company expects its North American operations to play an increasingly important role.


kwater@heraldcorp.com