why manufacturers like platform sharing
June 6th, 2006Consider for a second that the VW Eos, priced in the low to mid 30s is largely based on the same componentry the $15,000 Rabbit is made of or that the Volvo C70, priced in the low 40s shares many components with a Mazda 3.
Many have pointed out the SUV boom was fostered by the car companies because they could take a rudimentary pickup truck priced in the low teens, change the bodywork, add leather seats for all and sell it for $50K.
It seems to the world is moving away from truck based SUVs to more compact and handling oriented ones (think X3, RD-X), but luckily for the car companies buyers will still pay Filet Mignon prices for the equivalent of reheated fast food.
Folding hardtop mechanisms or on demand all wheel drive systems add cost, sure, but doubling the sticker price? That’s just greedy. And no one seems to mind…