General Motors recognized 76 companies representing 16 countries with its Supplier of the Year award during the annual ceremony Thursday at the GM Design Dome here.

Sixty-one companies have won the award more than once. One of them, Germany’s Mann + Hummel, a supplier of intake manifolds, has been honored as a Supplier of the Year winner each of the 18 years the awards have been presented. Fifteen companies won the award for the first time.

“The Supplier of the Year award is always special but those suppliers recognized this year have risen above and beyond the call during one of the most challenging years in GM history,” said Bob Socia, vice president, Global Purchasing and Supply Chain. ”This is truly a world-class list of suppliers.”

The award recognizes the significant contributions of GM’s suppliers in 2009 as part of the company’s global product and performance achievements. The Supplier of the Year program started in 1992, and each year a global team of purchasing, engineering, quality, manufacturing and logistics executives determines the winners.

The decisions are based on supplier performance in the areas of quality, service, technology and price.

Here are the General Motors Supplier of the Year award winners, country represented and number of SOY wins including 2009:

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