Thus, sales of the Czech-built Skoda (which was bought by VW in the early 1990s and had its cheap-and-nasty image burnished by its new owner) were challenging the posher German-made Golf, which used the same platform. Now VW is concentrating on what it calls “modulesâ€: different models still share parts, but not to the extent that different brands end up looking the same. Ford is going the same way, says Mr Parry-Jones. “The trick is not to commonise the wrong bits in different models. You commonise parts such as batteries and alternators, not things the customer can see, like the window switches.†http://www.economist.com/surveys/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=3127250
Special new fasteners are being introduced on the new car to hold it together better than ever. To simplify design and ease of maintenance I eventually hope to commonise and standardise all fasteners on the car http://www.fsae.bham.ac.uk/team/paul_bott.htm
"It's difficult to make profits in this segment without economies of scale, so it would be ideal if we could commonise our products." One way to do that would be to develop and manufacture cars jointly with minivehicle maker Daihatsu, whose main domestic rival Suzuki Motor Corp dominates the Indian market through unit Maruti Udyog Ltd, Okabe said. - 26k
