Mercedes-Benz aims is targeting billions of euros in cost reductions annually by cutting the number of vehicle platforms and using more common parts across segments.
Research and development chief Thomas Weber told German industry magazine Automobilewoche: “We expect a reduction in costs of more than EUR1.5bn (US$1.94bn) annually. It’s our target to achieve the full savings effect in 2014 ideally, or 2015 at the latest.”
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He added: “Instead of designing every new car from scratch, we will focus on three architectures: one for rear-wheel drive cars, one for SUVs and one for front-wheel drive compacts.”
The move follows an industry trend to more modular architectures that can be used across segments to achieve synergies.
Weber added that he wanted to “thin out” the R&D budget at the Daimler group to 4% of sales, down from almost 5% in 2010, assuming a consolidated revenue of EUR100bn (US$130bn).
