VW's MQB and Toyota's TNGA: Platform sharing has gone beyond just platform sharing

Many of today’s platform-based vehicles are tailored to meet the demands of a diverse of customers, achieved by producing more models than ever before, but each using more or less the same mechanicals and electrical architecture underneath. Platform sharing allows manufacturers to increase their market share, expand their model line up, and reduce development and manufacturing costs.

Originally, the term platform sharing literally stands for a shared chassis on one single model. Ford Motor Company started it all, beginning with the Model T. Throughout its production, there were a total of 11 body styles based on a single chassis.

Later, the practice evolved to a producing several vastly different products. The sporty Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia for example, utilizes the Beetle frame. At the other extreme is the Volkswagen Kombi van (T1 - T3 generations) .

Platform sharing then went one step further to create different product brands for different brands - an art that was perfected by General Motors. The same basic structure may spawn different body types, sold under different brands at different prices, thus significantly extending the company's market reach and sales. 

The same mechanicals used to build a Chevrolet can be used to build a Cadillac. It didn't matter to the customer that the two cars are the same underneath, because the touch and feel, everything that's visibile to the customer, has been changed. A Cadillac also had a different brand image from a Chevrolet. 

Today, this is done by nearly every major car maker, from the sprawling Volkswagen Group to the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance. Did you know that Nissan X-Trail shares the same platform as the Renault Koleos?

Today, one of the most well-known and most robust platform in the world is the Volkswagen Group's MQB platform. It's not just a platform, but rather a system for introducing rationality to different platforms that have transverse engines, regardless of the body configurations amongst its eleven car brand.

For example, sharing a common engine mount for all types of drivetrains such as petrol, diesel, hybrid and electric can be made possible with this platform, and this allows different models to be manufactured at the same plant, which helps with the quality, cost and time.

As of now, the MQB platform has singlehandedly underpinned a total of 42 different models under the Volkswagen Group umbrella. Like any other thing, there are limits to how far manufacturers will continue to use similar platforms, at least until they stop making money.

Going one step further is Toyota's TNGA. Again, it's more than just a platform, but a total revamp of the car manufacturing process. Much have been said about how TNGA has significantly improved recent Toyota cars' handling, but what is less said is its benefit to the manufacturing side of things. TNGA allows for simplified plant layouts. The size and complexity of the machine tools for example, can be reduced, while a revamped assembly line now puts less stress on assembly line workers by for example - requiring them to bend their bodies less, and it can also be shortened/lengthened in very short notice.