Here's a slightly off-topic angle based on this question. JSW05 makes an interesting point with regard to what "automotive product" means, and what "quality system" means.
If you have both auto and non-auto products, what elements of the system are common? Do you develop D-FMEA's and P-FMEA's? Do you develop production control plans? What about preparing (not necessarily submitting) a PPAP to the full PPAP requirements?
If these aren't done for the non-automotive products, then there's no doubt in my mind that the registrar needs to audit an "automotive" product, because these
APQP items are a major element of the quality planning process.
I haven't seen a lot of companies with mixed automotive and non-automotive products. I have seen several automotive companies that make aftermarket and OEM parts. Some of these companies treat both the same; they just keep the APQP info for their own records, as the aftermarket customers don't require it (or know what to do with it!). Others skip the whole process and run the aftermarket parts on the cheap, with minimal quality planning.
The interesting thing about these two types of companies: The APQP done by the first group is usually better done. They have grasped the benefits of the APQP process and find it valuable. (Otherwise, they wouldn't do it when there was no customer demanding it.) The second group did the APQP as a paperwork, chickens*** exercise, so even when they did it for an automotive customer, it wasn't that useful.
Thanks for listening to my rant.
Brad