With hopes of achieving better contract terms, more automotive suppliers are resorting to bankruptcy — or at least threatening it — in what has become in some cases a high-stakes game of chicken with customers.

Suppliers have so far been largely successful in obtaining pricing relief from automakers, according to attorneys and consultants involved in the discussions. But as suppliers intensify their efforts for price increases, and OEMs face a bleaker economic outlook and major supplier-related financial losses, it’s less of a guarantee who blinks first at the negotiation table.

The situation is not nearly as dire as the Great Recession of 2007-09, but suppliers across the tiers continue bearing the brunt of supply chain pain, and they are not afraid of pulling the bankruptcy card, according to Max Newman, attorney at Detroit-based Butzel Long who specializes in Chapter 11 proceedings.

Read the full story from Crain’s Detroit Business.