The Modular Design of Automotive Platforms - Carmaker's Strategies in Europe

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http://www.inovev.com
Modular Design of
Automotive Platforms
An innovative approach
to reduce cost, and time to market
Carmakers’ Strategies
(Production in Europe)
Jamel Taganza
Vice-President
Jamel.taganza@inovev.com
Michel Costes
President
michel.costes@inovev.com
Jean-Michel Prillieux
Market director
11/04/2013
Bernard Thibault

Content
April 11, 2014 2
Introduction of INOVEV
Objectives of the current presentation
Slide n°3
Slide n°8
Platform concept Slide n°11
Standardisation to reduce cost Slide n°16
Do we need a platform concept to reach these
objectives? Analysis based on VW
Slide n°25
Advantages and dangers of a platform modular approach Slide n°37
Conclusion Slide n°39
Appendix: European Carmakers platforms policies Slide n°41

Introduction of INOVEV
April 11, 2014 3

INOVEV: THE AUTOMOTIVE KNOWLEDGE PLATFORM
April 11, 2014 4

Inovev is a worldwide automotive analysis company
giving professionals access to continuously updated
information and analyses.
Economic data Technical data
PRODUCTION AND REGISTRATIONS DATA
Quantities of cars Produced and registered in the world
country by country, carmaker by carmaker, plant by plant,
model by model, year by year.
Period: 2005-2018 (achieved, current and forecast)
DAILY ANALYSIS OF THE AUTOMOTIVE MARKET
Analysis of the automotive market put into perspective with
production and registrations data compiled by Inovev
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Analysis of products and processes innovations
by technical communities
(powertrain, materials, fasteners, bodies-in-white...)
TECHNICAL FILES
Main elements to support your analysis: technical studies,
photos, scan files, sections, detailed material analysis,
detailed product/process analysis
INOVEV: THE AUTOMOTIVE KNOWLEDGE PLATFORM
April 11, 2014 5

Inovev’s expertise in automotive technologies
The INOVEV Team has managed the analysis of around 100 automotive bodies, according to
methodologies and specifications built par carmakers and their suppliers.
April 11, 2014 6

Automotive Information Currently Available on Inovev
Quantities of cars
Produced and registered
in the world
Analyses and data can be
purchased on-line
Online private
“Auto Data Centres”
For customers and partners
Daily analysis
of the
automotive market
Full and coherent database Pivot tables
pre-configured
Infographic with
search engine
April 11, 2014 7

Objectives of the current presentation
April 11, 2014 8

Objectives (1/2)
The competition is very fierce in the automotive industry.
Many factors contribute to the success or failures of carmakers’ strategies.
Control of technologies is a key component of carmakers’ strategies.
It contributes strongly to:
 The design and engineering of vehicles responding better to the demand.
 The reduction of cost.
A vehicle is composed of many components grouped together in different manners.
In the recent decade a new word has been put on the front of the communication : the platform.
Many carmakers communicate today about its new platforms, much more efficient than the
previous ones.
However several questions arise
 What is really a platform?
 Do the carmakers really reduce the number of their platforms?
 Do some carmakers control the design and engineering of platforms better than other ones?
And will this control give them significant strategic advantages versus competitors?
 Or is it mainly communication?
April 11, 2014 9

Objectives (2/2)
Automotive industry is a very competitive one.
Competition has still increased over the last 10 years with an enhanced globalisation.
In order to face this competition, carmakers:
 Develop their offer by:
• Adding versions to their range of models (e.g. SUV, crossovers, …)
• Adapting the design of the cars to the specific demand of the different countries where they sell their
products.
 Decrease the cost of their products by:
• De-contenting them every time that the de-contented products are sufficient for the targeted customers
• Decreasing the price of the products:
- By using a systemic approach.
- Standardise as much as possible to produce mass volume parts at low cost.
Platform is at the core of the know-how of the carmaker.
Designing sets of efficient platforms at an optimised cost provides those of carmakers which control technologies
with very significant advantages versus competition.
Many efforts are deployed to develop and engineer optimised platform
The concept of platform varies from one carmaker to the other one.
In all cases the platform is an ensemble composed of:
 The underbody (which is the structure of the platform).
 The systems that are attached to this underbody and that contribute to the mechanical properties of the car,
as the suspensions and the powertrain.
Considered systems are not the same from one carmaker to another
April 11, 2014 10

Platform concept
April 11, 2014 11

Platform and underbody: design
Platform
(concept, not existing physically)
Body shell
(existing physically)
April 11, 2014 12

Platform concept
April 11, 2014 13

Platform and underbody: process
April 11, 2014 14

Platform and underbody: process
April 11, 2014 15

Standardisation to reduce cost
April 11, 2014 16

The design of a platform needs a systemic approach.
The car must comply with a lot of constraints:
 Design
• Static (torsion, bending, acoustic)
• Dynamic (front, rear and side crash, small shock, pedestrian safety)
• Mass
• Roominess
 Process
• Installed tooling: flexibility
 Minimum cost
For cost reduction reasons, it is necessary:
 to use a maximum of common parts over a wide range of models and
derivatives.
Generally, some basis systems of the car are designed, and then
adapted to comply with the specification of a maximum of models.
 To standardise the attachments of the modules so that more flexibility
is enabled.
Platform concept
April 11, 2014 17

Standardisation of general design
April 11, 2014 18
Source: Fiat-Chrysler (FCA)

Underbody A
Underbody C
Underbody B
Attachment points
• Important design approach
• Standardisation of attachments of modules
• Standardisation of parts
• Assembly flexibility on a same line by using adequate pilot processes
Standardisation of parts and attachments
April 11, 2014 19

Scaling Process
Build models with different models on the basis of the same platform
 Not multiply all the dimensions
 But keep identical or similar the maximum of parts
and keep identical the maximum of fixations (in particular holes used for assemblies)
 Change the dimensions of a minimum of parts
Use the same toolings
 Stamping tooling to produce parts on demand
Example: central floor
 Welding and assembly lines
April 11, 2014 20

Standardisation of parts
Underbody: around 100 parts from several grams to 10 kg (including around 30 parts> 1kg)
April 11, 2014 21

Standardisation of position and attachments of modules
April 11, 2014 22
Uniform length Unified engine position
Standardised attachment for
rear axles

Standardisation of tooling
Flexible factory
January 27, 2014 23

Standardisation of tooling
Tooling carry over
January 27, 2014 24
Source:

Do we need a platform concept to reach these objectives?
Analysis based on VW
April 11, 2014 25

The options of vehicle design
 Option 1
• Each new car is designed separately, without interaction with other cars of the
carmaker’s range.
It is a very old approach, abandoned by traditional carmakers decades ago.
Currently only some Chinese-Chinese carmakers are still in this scheme.
April 11, 2014 26

Option 2 : standardisation into a same segment:
 Inside each brand
 Across the brands
Option 3: standardisation across segments but using a different code name of platform
for each segment.
Option 4: standardisation across segments but using a same code name for the
different segments
April 11, 2014 27
The question is:
Is the difference between option 3 and 4 only “Marketing”?

Platforms to be build for a large number of vehicles
Volkswagen Group: several brands – many vehicles in each brand
April 11, 2014 28

VW Platform policy
MQB
(transversal engine)
MLB
(longitudinal l engine)
Production in Europe
PQ35
PQ25
April 11, 2014 29
Data available
in Premium 1 or Premium 2 access

2005 : platforms by segment
vehicles which will be produced from MQB platform in 2017
MQB: Modularer QuerBaukasten – Modular Transverse Matrix (Construction Box)
VW Platform policy
April 11, 2014 30
Data available

• 2013 : Transition - Introduction of the MQB and decrease of others platforms
VW Platform policy
April 11, 2014 31
Data available

• 2017 :– MQB platform – More segments
VW Platform policy
April 11, 2014 32
Data available

Comparison of Volkswagen PQ 35/PQ36 and PQ 46
Some standardisation is effective across 2 different platforms…..
April 11, 2014 33
Complete view of the underbody available

Some standardisation is effective across 2 different platforms…..
6 of 8 positioning holes are at
same position
2 rear holes have different
positions
April 11, 2014 34
X Y
Z

….But standardisation still remains low
Golf 6 Passat 6
Front floor
No common parts
between Golf 6 and Passat 6
April 11, 2014 35
Complete view of the
parts available
in Premium 1 or
Premium 2 access
Complete view of the
parts available
in Premium 1 or
Premium 2 access

Comparison of 2 vehicles based on platforms with 2 different names:
 Golf 6 (SOP: 2003 – EOP: 2012 – Segment C – Platform PQ36)
 Passat 6 (SOP: 2005 – EOP: Scheduled in 2014 – Segment D – Platform P46)
See following slides
Comparison of platforms PQ35 and PQ45 on one side, and MQB on another side
April 11, 2014 36
Data available
in Premium 1 or
Premium 2 access

Advantages and dangers of a platform modular approach
April 11, 2014 37

Advantages and dangers of a platform modular approach
Advantages
 Reduce
• Part cost
• The cost of the tooling is spread over a larger number parts
• Development cost
 Decrease
• Time to market for new vehicles and/or new versions
 Focus R&D on
• Less projects with more means
Dangers
 MQB platform can be by default over-designed and over-engineered for some basic segment
models (A or B).
 Cost of adapting the MQB base to specific projects.
It may be more costly to adapt the MQB platform to a new project than to redesign a new
platform
 First investment and replacement cost of the toolings to adapt them to the new concept
 Quality problems due a non-optimised design (due to the MQB platform constraints)
 Not being able to take advantage of new developments and technologies coming to the market
April 11, 2014 38

Conclusion
The platform modular approach is really a way to reduce cost, providing however that it
is pushed only to a reasonable extent.
April 11, 2014 40
Attempting to use a too low number of platforms can lead to “acrobatic” adaptations
leading to an increase of cost rather than a decrease in cost.
It is difficult to analyse from the production number data by platform the strategic
advantage of a carmaker which would result from a better control of modular approach.
Actually information released by carmakers is much based on marketing.

Appendix: European Carmakers platforms policies
April 11, 2014 41

Main platforms in Europe
Platforms by carmakers relating to production in Europe
Ranking by number of cars per platform in average
April 11, 2014 42
Data available
in Premium 1 or
Premium 2 access

Platforms by carmakers relating to production in Europe
Ranking by number of cars per platform in average
April 11, 2014 43
Data available

Ranking by number of vehicles per platform
April 11, 2014 44
Data available
in Premium 1 or
Premium 2 access

RENAULT-NISSAN Platform policy
B
CMF
C
B0
April 11, 2014 45
Data available

2005 – Platforms based on segments
April 11, 2014 46
Data available

• 2013 – More integration with NISSAN
April 11, 2014 47
Data available

• 2017 : More segments on the same platform
April 11, 2014 48
Data available

PSA Platform policy
B000
PF1
EMP2
April 11, 2014 49
PF2PF3
PF3
Data available

2005 – Platforms based on segments
PSA Platform policy
April 11, 2014 50
Data available

• 2013 – Introduction of the EMP2 for the C segment
PSA Platform policy
April 11, 2014 51
Data available
in Premium 1 or Premium 2
access

PSA Platform policy
April 11, 2014 52
Data available
in Premium 1 or Premium 2
access

FIAT-Chrysler Platform policy
U3
PF1
169
April 11, 2014 53
199
178
Data available

2005 – Platforms based on vehicles
April 11, 2014 54
GROUP FIAT
2005 (Multiple Items)
Sum of 2005
PLATFORM SEGMENT 1 SEGMENT 2 MODEL FAMILY MAKE SOP EOP LENGHT WIDTH Total
169 A SEDAN PANDA FIAT 2003 2013 356 158 229400
178 B MICROVAN DOBLO FIAT 2000 2009 416 171 28225
MPV IDEA FIAT 2003 2011 393 170 42643
MUSA LANCIA 2004 2013 398 170 31748
SEDAN PALIO/SIENA/ALBEA FIAT 1996 2011 413 162 43121
PUNTO FIAT 1999 2007 384 166 205730
YPSILON LANCIA 1995 2005 378 170 72767
LUV LUV DOBLO FIAT 2000 2009 416 171 88570
186 C MPV MULTIPLA FIAT 1998 2010 409 187 29721
199 B SEDAN PUNTO FIAT 2005 2016 403 169 84853
A A SEDAN SEICENTO FIAT 1998 2010 332 151 55505
C/D C SEDAN STILO FIAT 2001 2007 425 176 69655
E1 E SEDAN 166 ALFA 1998 2007 472 182 2608
THESIS LANCIA 2001 2008 489 183 1127
EPSILON E SEDAN CROMA FIAT 2005 2010 476 177 25393
MASERATI SPORT SPORT NON IDENTIFIED MASERATI N.R. (blank) (blank) (blank) 5694
PREMIUM D SEDAN 159 ALFA 2005 2011 466 183 17216
SPORT SPORT BRERA/SPIDER ALFA 2005 2011 441 183 1613
PSA E MPV PHEDRA LANCIA 2002 2010 473 185 5713
ULYSSE FIAT 2002 2010 473 185 8304
LUV LUV SCUDO FIAT 1995 2016 444 181 20680
PUNTO 1 SPORT SPORT BARCHETTA FIAT 1995 2005 392 164 242
TIPO 2 C SEDAN 147 ALFA 2000 2010 422 173 71117
D SEDAN 156 ALFA 1997 2006 443 175 21302
LYBRA LANCIA 1999 2005 447 174 4126
MAREA FIAT 1996 2007 439 174 1443
SPORT SPORT COUPE GT ALFA 2003 2010 449 176 18585
U3 LUV LUV DUCATO FIAT 1994 (blank) 500 200 101006
unknown SPORT SPORT NON IDENTIFIED FERRARI N.R. (blank) (blank) 5361
Grand Total 1293468
Data available

• 2013 – Several platforms for same segments
April 11, 2014 55
GROUP (Multiple Items)
Sum of 2013
169 A SEDAN 500 FIAT 2007 2014 355 163 160561
PANDA FIAT 2003 2013 356 158 45145
2011 365 164 116887
B MPV 500L FIAT 2012 (blank) 415 178 67138
SEDAN YPSILON LANCIA 2011 384 168 60185
178 B MPV MUSA LANCIA 2004 2013 398 170 1904
199 B MICROVAN DOBLO FIAT 2010 (blank) 439 183 6790
FIORINO FIAT 2007 (blank) 386 172 12684
SEDAN LINEA FIAT 2007 (blank) 456 173 25740
MITO ALFA 2008 2014 406 172 19189
PUNTO FIAT 2005 2016 403 169 114552
LUV LUV DOBLO FIAT 2010 (blank) 439 183 73294
C/D C SEDAN BRAVO FIAT 2007 2013 434 179 9177
DELTA LANCIA 2008 2015 452 180 9359
GIULIETTA ALFA 2010 2017 435 180 52788
MASERATI SPORT SPORT NON IDENTIFIED MASERATI N.R. (blank) (blank) (blank) 7584
PSA LUV LUV SCUDO FIAT 1995 2016 444 181 15134
SUZUKI B SUV SEDICI FIAT 2006 2013 412 176 5611
Grand Total 946194
Data available

April 11, 2014 56
GROUP (Multiple Items)
Sum of 2017
169 B MPV 500L FIAT 2012 (blank) 415 178 80023
500L LIVING FIAT 2014 435 178 23833
SEDAN YPSILON LANCIA 2011 384 168 70615
SUV RENEGADE JEEP 2014 (blank) (blank) (blank) 120000
199 B MICROVAN DOBLO FIAT 2010 (blank) 439 183 15598
SEDAN LINEA FIAT 2007 (blank) 456 173 45308
PUNTO FIAT 2017 (blank) (blank) (blank) 246875
LUV LUV DOBLO FIAT 2010 (blank) 439 183 95029
(deleted) B SEDAN MITO ALFA 2015 (blank) (blank) 39721
C SUV SUV ALFA 2014 (blank) (blank) 18827
C/D C SEDAN GIULIETTA ALFA 2010 2017 435 180 64726
MASERATI D SEDAN GIULIA ALFA 2015 (blank) (blank) 29373
(blank) (blank) 14762
SPORT SPORT NON IDENTIFIED MASERATI N.R. (blank) (blank) (blank) 9531
YN B SUV 500X FIAT 2014 (blank) (blank) (blank) 81196
Grand Total 1131998
unknown
Data available

BMW Platform policy
L3
L7
LU
April 11, 2014 57
L6L1
L2
Data available

BMW Platform policy
April 11, 2014 58
GROUP BMW
Sum of 2005
E36/46 D SUV X3 BMW 2003 2010 457 185 106165
E65 E SEDAN 7 SERIES BMW 2001 2008 484 185 11378
F SEDAN 7 SERIES BMW 2001 2008 503 190 37731
L1 E E 6 SERIES BMW 2003 2010 482 186 21873
SEDAN 5 SERIES BMW 2004 2010 484 185 203256
L2 C SEDAN 1 SERIES BMW 2004 2011 423 175 156724
D SEDAN 3 SERIES BMW 2005 2011 452 182 402020
L3 B SEDAN MINI MINI 2001 2006 363 169 200163
unknown F SEDAN NON IDENTIFIED ROLLS-ROYCEN.R. (blank) (blank) (blank) 692
Grand Total 1140002
Data available

• 2013 – L7 platform shared between C and D segments
BMW Platform policy
April 11, 2014 59
GROUP BMW
Sum of 2013
L2 C SUV X1 BMW 2009 2016 445 185 99454
SPORT SPORT Z4 BMW 2008 424 179 11213
L3 B SEDAN MINI MINI 2007 2013 371 169 181137
SUV COUNTRYMAN/PACEMANMINI 2010 (blank) 411 179 74697
L6 E E 6 SERIES BMW 2011 (blank) 489 189 27687
SEDAN 5 SERIES BMW 2010 (blank) 490 186 159863
F SEDAN 7 SERIES BMW 2008 2015 507 190 32197
L7 C SEDAN 1 SERIES BMW 2011 (blank) 432 177 208155
D SEDAN 3 SERIES BMW 2012 463 182 281185
(blank) 463 182 11091
4 SERIES BMW 2013 (blank) 464 183 3872
unknown A SEDAN i3 BMW 2013 (blank) 400 178 3000
F SEDAN NON IDENTIFIED ROLLS-ROYCEN.R. (blank) (blank) (blank) 2574
Grand Total 1096125
Data available

BMW Platform policy
April 11, 2014 60
GROUP BMW
Sum of 2017
(deleted) SPORT SPORT Z2 BMW 2015 (blank) (blank) 24715
L2 SPORT SPORT Z4 BMW 2008 424 179 11592
L3 B SUV COUNTRYMAN/PACEMANMINI 2010 (blank) 411 179 98270
L6 E E 6 SERIES BMW 2011 (blank) 489 189 37592
SEDAN 5 SERIES BMW 2010 (blank) 490 186 129499
F SEDAN 7 SERIES BMW 2016 (blank) (blank) 1108
(blank) 60682
L7 C SEDAN 1 SERIES BMW 2011 (blank) 432 177 205366
2 SERIES BMW 2013 (blank) 443 177 50000
D SEDAN 3 SERIES BMW 2012 463 182 284251
(blank) 463 182 11211
4 SERIES BMW 2013 (blank) 464 183 70000
LU B SEDAN MINI MINI 2014 (blank) 207712
C MPV 2 SERIES ACTIVE TOURERBMW 2014 (blank) (blank) (blank) 80000
SUV X1 BMW 2017 112405
unknown A SEDAN i3 BMW 2013 (blank) 400 178 39523
F SEDAN NON IDENTIFIED ROLLS-ROYCEN.R. (blank) (blank) (blank) 3631
SPORT SPORT i8 BMW 2014 (blank) 469 188 2000
Grand Total 1429557
Data available

Daimler Platform policy
L3
MFA
April 11, 2014 61
MRA
T1
Data available

April 11, 2014 62
GROUP DAIMLER
Sum of 2005
MITSUBISHI B SEDAN FORFOUR SMART 2004 2006 375 168 46976
NCV2 E MPV V CLASS MERCEDES 2004 475 190 15827
SMART A SEDAN FORTWO SMART 1998 2006 250 152 77015
T0 LUV LUV VITO MERCEDES 2004 475 190 75181
T1 LUV LUV SPRINTER MERCEDES 1995 496 193 125754
W169 C MPV B CLASS MERCEDES 2005 2011 427 178 70253
SEDAN A CLASS MERCEDES 2004 2012 384 176 195201
W203 D SEDAN C CLASS MERCEDES 2001 2007 453 173 230750
SPORT SPORT CLK MERCEDES 2002 2009 464 174 55483
SLK MERCEDES 2004 2010 408 178 60553
W211 E E CLS MERCEDES 2004 2010 491 187 52732
SEDAN E CLASS MERCEDES 2002 2008 482 182 204548
SPORT SPORT SL MERCEDES 2001 2011 454 182 17357
W220 F SEDAN S/CL CLASS MERCEDES 1998 2005 504 186 27184
W221 F SEDAN 57/62 MAYBACH 2003 2012 573 198 302
S/CL CLASS MERCEDES 2005 2013 508 187 29894
W463 E SUV G CLASS MERCEDES 1979 (blank) 423 176 5046
Grand Total 1290056
Data available

• 2013 – Introduction of the MFA platform
April 11, 2014 63
GROUP DAIMLER
Sum of 2013
MFA C MPV B CLASS MERCEDES 2011 (blank) 439 179 174852
SEDAN A CLASS MERCEDES 2012 (blank) 429 178 172650
CLA MERCEDES 2012 (blank) 463 178 70556
RENAULT LUV LUV CITAN MERCEDES 2013 421 182 15756
SMART II A SEDAN FORTWO SMART 2007 2013 270 156 97905
W204 D SEDAN C CLASS MERCEDES 2007 2014 458 177 210846
SUV GLK MERCEDES 2007 2015 453 184 48974
SPORT SPORT SLK MERCEDES 2011 414 182 18277
W211 E E CLS MERCEDES 2011 491 187 4974
W212 E E CLS MERCEDES 2011 (blank) 494 188 36783
SEDAN E CLASS MERCEDES 2009 2015 487 185 229549
SPORT SPORT SL MERCEDES 2012 462 188 11074
SLS MERCEDES 2010 414 182 3093
W221 F SEDAN S/CL CLASS MERCEDES 2005 2013 508 187 35111
W222 F SEDAN S/CL CLASS MERCEDES 2013 525 190 9
(blank) 525 190 18210
Grand Total 1337551
Data available

April 11, 2014 64
GROUP DAIMLER
Sum of 2017
MFA C MPV B CLASS MERCEDES 2011 (blank) 439 179 151533
SEDAN A CLASS MERCEDES 2012 (blank) 429 178 208861
CLA MERCEDES 2012 (blank) 463 178 79431
SUV GLA MERCEDES 2014 (blank) (blank) 50000
MRA MIDE SIZE E SEDAN E CLASS MERCEDES 2016 (blank) 72577
(blank) 3974
(blank) 130881
MRA MID-SIZE D SEDAN C CLASS MERCEDES 2014 (blank) (blank) 6471
(blank) (blank) (blank) 240684
RENAULT B SEDAN FORFOUR SMART 2015 (blank) (blank) 35308
LUV LUV CITAN MERCEDES 2013 421 182 30000
W204 SPORT SPORT SLK MERCEDES 2011 414 182 21308
W205 D SUV GLK MERCEDES 2016 (blank) (blank) 85269
W211 E E CLS MERCEDES 2011 491 187 5713
W212 E E CLS MERCEDES 2011 (blank) 494 188 42244
SPORT SPORT SL MERCEDES 2012 462 188 12240
W222 F SEDAN S/CL CLASS MERCEDES 2013 525 190 40
(blank) 525 190 83817
Grand Total 1468543
Data available

Postal address:
34 rue Camille Pelletan
92300 Levallois-Perret
France
Phone: + 33-952 96 06 68
Contacts:
 Managing director
Michel Costes
michel.costes@inovev.com
 Sales and marketing
Jamel Taganza
jamel.taganza@inovev.com

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