money as well as time. Whether in one’s personal life or in the automobile industry, any type of output has to be efficient. Some producers cut corners to bring a cars and truck to market, while others have different techniques to make creating a broad variety of cars and trucks budget-friendly as well as timely. In company lingo, it’s about producing economies of scale. Translation, the reduction in expense when production increases.
Take Tesla Motors for example. The business as a whole is losing big amounts of money each year as the amount of cars and trucks (and batteries) it creates is low. However, when the Gigafactory starts creating at full capacity, the expense of the batteries (and their cars) will decrease considerably as well as enable for a larger revenue margin.
Tesla’s large Gigafactory will churn out much more batteries yearly than all the batteries made currently in a year. (Image source: Tesla Motors)
Now let’s take a look at the different methods that different business utilize to decrease costs as well as save time before introducing a new car:
Badge engineering is a idea that has been utilized in the automobile market for a long time. It is rather a typical phenomenon which can be seen in designs made by general Motors (Vauxhall in the UK, Holden in Australia, Chevrolet in the USA, as well as Opel in Europe), as well as Nissan, Renault as well as Dacia. While some believe it has a unfavorable connotation, badge engineering enables producers to offer the exact same design (with a few changes) in the exact same as well as in different markets with a different name.
There are pros as well as cons to the concept. On one hand, it enables producers to save on schedule as well as expense of design, manufacturing, as well as introducing the car. On the other hand, if a cars and truck is introduced by different producers in the exact same market, it might result in cannibalising sales as both cars and trucks will vie for the exact same buyers. In the Indian market, the sales of Nissan’s Micra fell considerably after the Renault Pulse was introduced in 2012. essentially the exact same mini-hatchback with a few body panels changed, both designs were implied to draw in the exact same consumers.
Clockwise from the top: Nissan Micra, Renault Pulse, Vauxhall Astra & Opel Astra. (Image source: Wikipedia Commons & Renault India)
Similar to badge engineering in terms of expense effectiveness as well as time-saving is the modular concept. Modular is defined as ‘employing or including a module or modules as the basis of style or construction.’ This implies that across a variety of products, there will be some parts that can be shared regardless of the products’ size or function.
Modular building enables a higher level of originality as well as variety that a producer can offer by sharing necessary components. many major cars and truck makers have their own modular platforms as well as engines that assist them keep costs low as well as offer a flexible variety of products.
Volkswagen
At the beginning of 2012, Volkswagen revealed its new modular platform strategy. The very first one is for little household cars and trucks like the VW Up! as well as Skoda Citigo as well as is called NSF (New little Family). The second, is called MQB (stands for ‘Modularer Querbaukasten’ or Modular Transverse Matrix) as well as is for larger front-wheel drive cars and trucks with transversely-mounted engines like the VW Golf, Audi A3, Skoda Octavia, as well as a few smaller crossovers/SUVs under the VW group umbrella.
The third modular platform was pioneered by Audi as well as called MLB (Modularer Längsbaukasten or Modular Longitudinal Matrix) for cars and trucks like their A4, Q5, A8, as well as even Porsche’s Macan. The final platform is called MSB (Modular common architecture). It has been established by Porsche to be utilized for the super-luxury cars, sports cars, as well as larger SUVs that are made by the VW Group.
Clockwise from the top: VW Golf, Volkswagen Passat, SEAT Ateca & Skoda Octavia, all are developed on the MQB platform. (Image source: VW press site, SEAT press site & Wikipedia Commons)
The major source of expense saving is the truth that the exact same platform can have several applications without having to be re-engineered. The cars and trucks can be hatchbacks, saloons, or 7-seater SUVs as well as have a diesel engine, a petrol engine, or even hybrid engines without the requirement to go back to begin a new style from scratch.
Volvo
The Swedish marque has made modular engines because the 1990s. utilizing the exact same fundamental parts (an aluminium engine block as well as aluminium cylinder head, forged steel linking rods, aluminium pistons as well as double overhead camshafts), the original set of modular engines ranged from 1.6-litres to 2.9-litres as well as 4- to 6-cylinders. Volvo might offer a diverse variety of engines while keeping costs low.
Downsizing engines for the benefit of effectiveness has been an continuous pattern in recent years. The new generation of Volvo’s Drive-E engines are likewise modular. They variety from 1.5-litres to 2.0-litres with 3-cylinder as well as 4-cylinder configurations, as well as can run on petrol or diesel.
Volvo’s Scalable product design (SPA) modular chassis as well as the placement of the modular Drive-E engine utilized in the XC90 as well as the V60. (Image source: Volvo press site)
Following in the footsteps of Volkswagen, Volvo introduced its new Scalable product design (SPA) modular chassis system in 2014. They had been establishing the platform because 2010 as well as were in the process of overhauling their entire line-up. The health spa platform is utilized as a base to develop a big chunk of the cars and truck makers’ designs from the compact V60 to the large XC90. just last year, Volvo likewise debuted its Compact Modular design (CMA) for its variety of smaller cars and trucks including the upcoming XC40 as well as the next generation V40. The advantages include utilizing the exact same electrical systems (from infotainment to hybrid systems) as well as a much lower cost.
Jaguar
When the British producer introduced its new XE in 2015 to contend with the BMW 3 series as well as Mercedes-Benz C-Class, it debuted with a new variety of modular engines that Jaguar phone calls Ingenium. one of the primary elements of this engine is that each cylinder is 500cc which makes scaling it (both up as well as down) an simpler task. At very first there was just the 2-litre 4-cylinder diesel engine however reports just last month have exposed that there will be a 2-litre 4-cylinder petrol engine as well as six-cylinder petrol as well as diesel engines.
Jaguar Land Rover’s Ingenium modular engines will be utilized in practically every cars and truck from the XE to the Discovery. (Image source: JLR press site)
Expected to introduce in the latter half of 2017, it will imply the end of the present crop of supercharged V6 engines that Jaguar sells. The new straight-six Ingenium engines are likewise a shout out to the British automakers heritage as well as will be much much more efficient, lighter, as well as smoother than the V6 motor. The petrol powered engine is expected in three specifies of tune (300bhp, 400bhp, as well as 500bhp) as is the diesel engine (275bhp, 335bhp as well as 400bhp). The engines will be discovered in Jaguar’s XEs, XFs, F-Paces as well as XJs in addition to variety Rovers, variety sports as well as the next gen-Discovery.
BMW
When small officially ended up being a part of BMW, it had to circumvent its brand ethos of only building rear-wheel drive cars. In a quote to make the small brand much more profitable, they had to introduce front-wheel drive designs in their own product range. The UKL1 modular platform is utilized to develop Mini’s cars and trucks as well as develops the base for the next-generation 1 series as well as the 2-Series active Tourer. In addition, BMW debuted its cluster design platform (CLAR) in 2015 which underpins the 3, 5, 6 as well as 7 Series, as well as likewise the X3, X4, X5, X6 as well as X7.
The small as well as the next-generation 1 series will be underpinned by the UKL1 platform. The larger BMWs like the 3 series as well as X5 are based on cluster design platform (CLAR). (Image source: BMW press site)
The German marque has likewise taken a considerable step in powertrain element sharing, even among diesel as well as petrol units, as well as utilizes two modular architectures. One is employed on BMW’s front-wheel drive models, as well as the other on its rear-wheel drive cars. The company’s electric i3 as well as i8 are not thought about a part of the modular plans as yet.
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes has, in recent years, enhanced the number of designs it creates yet decreased the number of platforms from nine in 2009 to four in 2014. The four platforms are the MFA for FWD cars and trucks as well as crossovers (A-Class, GLA, CLA); the MRA for RWD cars in addition to crossovers (C-Class, E-Class, GLC, GLE); the MHA for mid-size as well as big crossovers as well as SUVs (ML); as well as the MSA for sports cars and trucks (AMG GT).
The S-Class sedan as well as coupe utilize some however not all elements of the MRA platform. These modular platforms have petrol, diesel as well as hybrid engines as well as are likewise completely capable of supporting all-wheel drive systems as well as technology.
The S-Class, GLE, GLC as well as E-Clmass are all based on Mercedes-Benz’s MRA platform. (Image source: Daimler press site)
There is a drawback to modular design on this scale. A single major flaw in one of the elements in a modular system might theoretically cause a big section of an automaker’s line-up to fail. The recalls would be large as well as the monetary consequences, dire.
So does the proliferation of modular platforms as well as engines imply that the cars and trucks will be similar in all aspects? will an budget-friendly hatchback feel like a premium saloon? In a word, no. checked out any type of comparison between the VW Golf as well as an Audi A3 as well as the differences are rather telling. Not just in terms of exactly how the cars and trucks look outside as well as inside, however exactly how they feel to drive. even though the engine, transmission, as well as platform is the same, the acceleration times, fuel efficiency, dealing with as well as trip high quality is dissimilar.
Another excellent example is the Audi R8 V10 as well as the Lamborghini Huracan. Although they share much more than just the carbon-fibre as well as aluminium chassis, all-wheel drive, as well as the 602bhp 5.2-litre V10 engine, the cars and trucks are rather different to drive. There has been some issue that the Lambos of old were really wild oxen while the newer breed are tamer, though that’s a different discussion altogether.
Unlike badge engineering, modular engines as well as platforms enable producers to decrease costs as well as still offer distinct products. many certainly a win-win situation.