Car "platforms" - how much is actually shared?

WobblyDog

The major motor manufacturers seem to be very keen on shared "platforms". For example, the Ford Fiesta and the Ford B-Max share a common platform, but from the outside I can't really see a great deal that's shared:

Shared?
Engine, transmission (with different ratios?), wheels, brakes, steering wheel, floorpan (do they weld bits on round the edges?), exhaust, mirrors, electronic hardware and software
Not shared?
All the body panels, doors, windows, seats, pretty much the entire interior, fuel tank, lights.

I can appreciate that sharing engines between models saves money, but that's been going on for a century.

How much is actually shared between models within a platform and how much money does it save?

neilmcl

Pretty much everything you can't see is shared, albeit with slight modifications, set ups etc. The design features, bodywork etc tend to be specific to model/make.

patman99

Quite a lot when you look into it.

For instance, Ford uses the PSA 1.6HDi engine in it's Focus, B-Max and C-Max cars built in Spain (almost all the ones on our roads). The Zetec petrol engine is actually a Mazda engine that Ford build under licence.

The same PSA 1.6 HDi engine is also used by BMW in the MINI and MINI One since 2008 (prior to this, they used the Toyota 1.5 TD diesel unit that sits in the Yaris).

The Ford Fiesta is actually a licence-built Mazda 121.

The Ford C-platform is also used by Volvo.

The original Quashqui diesel used the Chrysler diesel unit which is indestructable, but the Mk2 on uses the Renault DCi diesel power plants which are not very robust.

anotherbaldrick

This is what you get with the VW MQB platform everything else is bespoke to the model.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Hannover-Messe_2012_by-RaBoe_233.jpg

arcon5

patman99 wrote: »

Quite a lot when you look into it.

For instance, Ford uses the PSA 1.6HDi engine in it's Focus, B-Max and C-Max cars built in Spain (almost all the ones on our roads). The Zetec petrol engine is actually a Mazda engine that Ford build under licence.

The same PSA 1.6 HDi engine is also used by BMW in the MINI and MINI One since 2008 (prior to this, they used the Toyota 1.5 TD diesel unit that sits in the Yaris).

The Ford Fiesta is actually a licence-built Mazda 121.

The Ford C-platform is also used by Volvo.

The original Quashqui diesel used the Chrysler diesel unit which is indestructable, but the Mk2 on uses the Renault DCi diesel power plants which are not very robust.

If that's the HDI engine peugeot use in the 207 then god help us all !!!

DominicH

patman99 wrote: »

Quite a lot when you look into it.

For instance, Ford uses the PSA 1.6HDi engine in it's Focus, B-Max and C-Max cars built in Spain (almost all the ones on our roads). The Zetec petrol engine is actually a Mazda engine that Ford build under licence.

The same PSA 1.6 HDi engine is also used by BMW in the MINI and MINI One since 2008 (prior to this, they used the Toyota 1.5 TD diesel unit that sits in the Yaris).

The Ford Fiesta is actually a licence-built Mazda 121.

The Ford C-platform is also used by Volvo.

The original Quashqui diesel used the Chrysler diesel unit which is indestructable, but the Mk2 on uses the Renault DCi diesel power plants which are not very robust.

The Mazda 121 disappeared many years ago, and its last incarnation was a rebadged Fiesta, not the other way round.

"Zetec" doesn't refer to a particular Ford engine. It's a name that was applied to various unrelated engines (most of them nothing to do with Mazda), and was then used as a trim level name.

Volvo, like Mazda, are no longer connected to Ford, but do still have one Ford-platform model, I'll give you that.

When did the Qashqai ever use a Chrysler engine? The engines have always been Nissan/Renault AFAIK.

reeac

The most entertaining bit of component sharing that I've come across is the glass dome with chromium plated shroud that was a rear number plate light on a Morris 1100 and also a dash mounted map reading light on an MGA roadster.

WellKnownSid

Switchgear is commonly re-used. Can make lesser brands in the group more upmarket compared to their rivals, or work the other way - especially if there's a random assortment from the parts bin.

I seem to recall a magazine pointing out that a particular Aston Martin had the electric mirror switch from a Ka.

AdrianC

anotherbaldrick wrote: »

This is what you get with the VW MQB platform everything else is bespoke to the model.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Hannover-Messe_2012_by-RaBoe_233.jpg

And THAT is the difficult/expensive bit to develop. Changing the visible bits is dirt cheap, by comparison.

MQB cost VAG about £50bn - yes, billion-with-a-B - to develop, and caused them to issue a profits warning. It's already shared between nine different models across four brands - and there's even more still using the predecessor platforms, which'll move to MQB with the next generation.

robatwork

Anyone know what is (or what is not) shared on the Aygo / C1 / 108?

stator

anotherbaldrick wrote: »

This is what you get with the VW MQB platform everything else is bespoke to the model.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Hannover-Messe_2012_by-RaBoe_233.jpg

I pressume you're only talking about the frame.

Lots of other bits are shared too.
All of the mechanical stuff, engines, transmissions, pumps will all be shared across multiple cars.