BRIEFING: An analysis of the top global automotive platforms

Platform strategies are now integral to OEMs product development, and as old models are replaced, the proportion of production that is based on key high volume platforms is increasing. This year's review from just-auto shows that there are more high volume platforms than a year ago and that Toyota and PSA are currently leading other OEMs in terms of making platforms work for them. The briefing, which is an update of the first edition in August 2004, looks at the increase in platform usage, the resultant decrease in costs, and provides an analyses of models per platform for the major OEMs: Toyota, PSA Peugeot-Citroen, Volkswagen, GM, Honda, Ford, Renault-Nissan, Hyundai, BMW and DaimlerChrysler.