How a global automotive manufacturer built a multi-million dollar cost reduction case

A global automotive network with no independent way to validate freight costs.

As one of the world's largest automotive manufacturers, this company manages ocean and air freight costs across dozens of regions, from finished vehicle components to high-value parts shipments. Freight procurement decisions were historically made without an independent view of whether contracted rates reflected the broader market.

During periods of significant cost pressure, this created a clear gap. Procurement and finance teams could see what they were paying, but had no consistent way to know whether those rates were competitive, or where the biggest opportunities for renegotiation might be hiding across dozens of trade lanes and supplier relationships.

The challenge was compounded by scale: a global organisation spanning Japan, the Americas, and Europe, with freight cost decisions often made independently by regional and functional teams.

How Xeneta Helped

Independent ocean and air rate data, deployed across functions and regions.

The company uses Xeneta's Ocean and Air platforms to benchmark contracted rates against the broader market, giving procurement and finance teams an independent reference point for every negotiation. The underlying Market Rates dataset provides the rate data itself, while the Regional Capacity and Dynamic Load Factor dataset adds visibility into capacity conditions shaping those rates.

With Enterprise-wide user access, platform access has expanded well beyond the original logistics team, bringing in finance control colleagues working across vehicle components such as chassis, body, and interior parts, each able to validate the freight costs embedded in their own procurement categories.

That expansion has been deliberate. As new teams and regions take on Xeneta access, each has used the same independent benchmark to support negotiations with their own suppliers and carriers.

How It Works

From market benchmark to supplier negotiation.

The approach follows a consistent pattern across regions and teams. Contracted rates — whether for ocean container freight or air cargo — are checked against Xeneta's market benchmarks for the relevant trade lane and service level. Where a rate sits meaningfully above the market range, that gap becomes the starting point for a renegotiation conversation with the supplier or carrier.

This approach has been applied across multiple regions and use cases: validating ocean freight costs paid through trading subsidiaries, checking air freight rates on specific high-value lanes, and supporting supplier negotiations where component pricing includes an embedded freight cost. In each case, the same independent dataset removes the guesswork from deciding where to push for a better rate.

Outcomes

Independent data driving cost reduction across regions and functions.

The Broader Impact

Why independent benchmarking matters for a global manufacturer.

For an organisation operating at this scale, the value of independent freight data compounds with every additional team and region that adopts it. Each negotiation grounded in market data, rather than supplier-provided figures alone, strengthens the overall freight cost position. And because the data is independent of any single carrier or forwarder, it gives every team — from logistics in Japan to finance control in the Americas — a consistent standard for what a competitive rate looks like.

That consistency matters during periods when cost discipline is a top priority. Rather than relying on isolated, team-by-team negotiation efforts, broader use of Xeneta means cost reduction opportunities can be identified and acted on wherever they appear across the business.