No company scores more than 50%, three automakers in dead heat at the top of the rankings (Tesla, Ford, and Mercedes).
Lead the Charge unveiled its third annual Auto Supply Chain Leaderboard on Tuesday, ranking 18 global automakers based on their efforts to build equitable, sustainable, and fossil-free supply chains as they transition to electric vehicles (EVs). This year’s analysis finds that, despite notable achievements in some areas by automakers, the industry overall is making slow and inadequate progress on cleaning up its supply chains: for the third year running, no automaker achieved a total score of over 50% and the total average score across all automakers is just 22%.
The comprehensive benchmark considers 1,584 data points, evaluating each company across 88 indicators to assess their performance on addressing climate, environmental, and human rights impacts within their supply chains. The Leaderboard is based on an analysis of publicly available company reporting that has received board level sign off. The cut-off date for company disclosures to be included in the analysis was July 01, 2024.
Three automakers were in a dead heat at the top of the Leaderboard this year, with Tesla narrowly emerging as this year’s top scorer, just surpassing Ford by 0.5% and Mercedes by 1.4%. Tesla’s supply chain teams have made important progress in a number of areas, including by disclosing detailed information on its supply chain mapping efforts and direct sourcing agreements with mining suppliers, and still being the only automaker to disclose disaggregated scope 3 emissions for its steel, aluminum, and battery supply chains. Nonetheless, the company only achieved a total score of 43% and is lagging behind competitors on several issues, including steel and aluminum decarbonization, and workers’ rights.
“The results of this year’s Leaderboard are clear: although some automakers have strong policies and commitments, all are falling short when it comes to implementation,” said Ellen Moore, Earthworks’ Interim Mining Co-Director. “But it can be done. Automakers should learn from each other and adopt best practices in each indicator area. Meaningful progress towards equitable supply chains, more responsible mining, and a just transition is necessary, and it’s possible.”
Key Findings from the 2025 Leaderboard Rankings:
- Volvo made the most progress, with an overall score increase of 9 percentage points. The company improved its performance across 7 of the 8 subsections and also achieved the largest score increase against the climate and environmental indicators, where Volvo’s score is now more than double the industry average.
- Tesla sits precariously in first place: The work of Tesla’s policy teams delivered the company’s positive global climate lobbying record in 2024, which was a key factor in the company’s improved score this year.1 The Leaderboard applies InfluenceMap’s assessment of companies’ climate lobbying practices (last updated in May 2024) as a point modifier to automakers’ scores on fossil-free and environmentally sustainable supply chains. However, in the light of recent reports of the company’s support of the elimination of EV tax credits in the United States, Tesla could easily lose the top spot next year if the company’s positive record is not maintained.
- Ford was the top scorer on human rights and responsible sourcing for the third year running, whilst Mercedes was the only automaker evaluated that ranks among the top five highest scorers across each of the Leaderboard’s eight subsections.
- For the second consecutive year, Chinese automaker Geely achieved one of the largest score improvements, highlighting its strides in supply chain sustainability and responsible sourcing. Kia and Volkswagen also achieved impressive score increases this year.
- Japanese automakers Toyota, Nissan and Honda were the worst performers of the year, with the smallest improvement in their scores overall. Whilst Toyota and Honda did make some important progress on human rights due diligence, none of the companies improved their scores on supply chain sustainability and decarbonization. In fact, Toyota is the only company evaluated since 2023 that has not improved its score at all in this area.
This year’s Leaderboard also reveals several important trends in relation to automotive supply chain sustainability. The results present a dismaying picture regarding steel and aluminum decarbonization. After an initial flurry of progress by multiple automakers last year, performance this year has largely stagnated. Steel and aluminum make up nearly 50% of the average embodied emissions of an electric vehicle and the automotive industry represents a major source of demand for both industries.
“The auto industry’s lack of progress toward cultivating and securing steel and aluminum that doesn’t emit greenhouse gases is deeply concerning,” said Carly Oboth, senior supply chain campaigner with Public Citizen’s Climate Program. “The manufacturing of steel and aluminum is responsible for nearly 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Automakers have no excuse for inaction. The time for half-measures is over—it’s time for real commitments to low-emission supply chains.”
“As a group that includes both an automaker and a steelmaker, Hyundai Motor Group has the potential to decarbonize its supply chain, particularly in steel production”, said Heather Lee, Green Steel Lead from Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC). “However, it is disappointing to see no clear progress in this area. To ensure Hyundai Motor’s future competitiveness, Hyundai Steel must clean up its supply chain and accelerate its green steel production.”
On the other hand, after two years of near industry-wide inaction on Indigenous Peoples’ rights, this past year shows some initial indications of growing momentum on this issue, with several automakers either making new commitments or improving their existing performance in this area. However, with an average score across all companies of just 6%, this continues to be the lowest scoring category by far.
“We recognize that a few leading companies have taken steps to adopt policies aimed at respecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights, and we expect to see these policies being implemented throughout their supply chains,” said Galina Angarova, Executive Director of SIRGE Coalition. “However, we remain deeply concerned that the auto industry as a whole continues to disregard the fundamental rights of Indigenous Peoples. All automakers must urgently move beyond acknowledgment and take concrete actions to uphold these rights.”
This year’s results also send an encouraging message to policymakers and regulators that have been working to drive better performance by companies on supply chain sustainability and due diligence, as well as EV manufacturing. The areas of the Leaderboard that saw the greatest progress this year were also those that have been targeted by recently approved policies and regulations, such as the EU Battery Regulations and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. This underlines the importance of maintaining strong EU accountability legislation, such as the CSDDD, which is currently at risk of being weakened. Undermining these measures would jeopardise the progress that has been made and disrupt the promising path of change.
“The results of this year’s Leaderboard show how carmakers are advancing their sustainable supply chain practices, driven by ambitious EU legislation,” said Franziska Grüning, raw materials officer at T&E. “The EU Battery Regulation has set a credible path forward and legislation such as the CSDDD should be kept as is to not undermine the significant progress that’s been made.”
Despite the slow overall rate of progress, this year’s results also give reason to hope that the industry can do much better. Over half of the indicators are fully met by at least one company and companies could increase their scores to over 70% by matching the practices of their highest performing peers across different areas. There is significant room for improvement if other companies follow the best practices of industry leaders.
“The Lead the Charge Leaderboard holds the auto industry accountable to cleaning up their supply chains as they invest in the crucial and inevitable global EV transition, and it’s clear they all have more work to do,” said Katherine García, Director of the Sierra Club’s Clean Transportation for All campaign. “Thanks to current vehicle emissions standards, we are seeing an expanding EV market by the top performers on the scorecard. However once again, Toyota – the world’s largest automaker – comes in last showing no improvement whatsoever since the first version of this scorecard. We need every automaker to accelerate the pace of EV manufacturing to ensure we can stave off the very worst of the climate crisis. Time is of the essence.”
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About Lead the Charge: Lead the Charge is a diverse network of local, national, and global advocacy partners working for an equitable, sustainable, and fossil-free auto supply chain. Network members work across multiple geographies and issues, with expertise in climate, environmental justice, human rights, Indigenous rights, heavy industry, ESG and more.