Next Fiesta may be built off shared B-, C-, D-family platform

[nadepalma]

Next-Generation Ford Fiesta May Benefit From Ford's New Platform Family
By Richard Bremner, Correspondent | Published Nov 19, 2012

Just the Facts:
•Ford is taking a page from the Volkswagen playbook and developing a new three-prong platform family.
•The next-generation Ford Fiesta, due in around three years, could be the first recipient of the new hardware and component set.
•Insiders tell Edmunds that the core Ford Fiesta, Focus and Fusion models and their crossover spin-offs will be part of the new platform family.

Ford's new platform family will be similar in concept to Volkswagen's MQB modular platform, but with structural variations to suit the sizes of the cars that will be spun from each of them.

According to Ford insiders, one drawback of VW's highly publicized MQB strategy — in which the group's small, midsize and crossover models share the same core hardware — is that the smaller models carry a weight penalty because the platform has to suit bigger and heavier cars.

CONTINUE AT: http://www.insideline.com/ford/next-...rm-family.html

[ausrutherford]

Initial cost might be a lot, but the payoff is great.

More and more automakers will probably go to this model

[germeezy1]

Toyota is also at the forefront of this, and almost every major car they make is built utilizing the MC platform in some way.

[civilzues]

so many positives but many negatives (recalls would affect B, C, & D class vehicles for the WHOLE MODEL YEAR!)
I think it is a smart idea, less cost after the initial development.

[44 mpg by 2010]

"Do it right" the first time.

Consolidating resources should make that possibly.

When an error does occur ... it should appear more quickly ... provided warranty data is collected and analyzed correctly ... and that data analysis trigger an aggressive problem resolution/factory-field recovery strategy.

Done correctly ... IT COULD BE an impressive PR-marketing tool.

The challenge: Can Ford reduce the "detection-to-correction" cycle time below 6 months?

[germeezy1]

"Do it right" the first time.

Consolidating resources should make that possibly.

When an error does occur ... it should appear more quickly ... provided warranty data is collected and analyzed correctly ... and that data analysis trigger an aggressive problem resolution/factory-field recovery strategy.

Done correctly ... IT COULD BE an impressive PR-marketing tool.

The challenge: Can Ford reduce the "detection-to-correction" cycle time below 6 months?

This strategy worked very well for Toyota well that is before it suddenly didn't work very well. VW/ Audi although they are using flexible platform matrices will still have at least 3 distinct platform matrices not one.

[richmond2000]

so many positives but many negatives (recalls would affect B, C, & D class vehicles for the WHOLE MODEL YEAR!)
I think it is a smart idea, less cost after the initial development.

most recalls are NOT @ the platform level but at a component or assembly level
so IMHO the "one ford" strategy would do more to open ford up to toyota sized recalls as high level component sharing occurs with or with out platform sharing

[Stéphane Dumas]

Didn't Chrysler once tried a more or less similar approach with the K-car and its multiple variations?

[AMcA]

This is what everyone in the business has to do. It's not just sharing platforms across the world anymore. That's a given - a given which took a surprisingly long time to implement. It's sharing platforms across the line. VW has a head start on it . . . everyone's got to follow now, or get caught out at a cost disadvantage.

[mr_raider]

This strategy worked very well for Toyota well that is before it suddenly didn't work very well.

And Deming took that philosophy to Ford in the 80s, and it didn't stick until 2 decades later. Quality control is a science, but applying the science is usually subject to human failings, greed principally.

[richmond2000]

This strategy worked very well for Toyota well that is before it suddenly didn't work very well.

I do not believe any of Toyota's shortcomings are caused by using shared chassis but Management / communication / component failure

and no number of chassis will prevent the failures experienced as component sharing would still be used