Essential alliances between large groups that aim to reach the target of 15 million sales. The crux of the modular platforms: the Vw model and the Fiat Chrysler delay
by Alberto Annicchiarico and Mario Cianflone
5 ‘of reading
Quota 15 million cars sold. This seems to be the new psychological threshold for large groups and this was precisely the volume of production expected from the faded (at least for now) merger between FCA and Renault-Nissan. In the car industry the technological paradigms are changing (electrification, digitalization, assisted driving) and with them the relationships between the houses are revolutionizing. Faced with the investments needed to cope with change, even if only to compete on the European market, where emission limits are ever tighter, houses are faced with a card already used in the past with mixed fortunes: that of mergers.
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And if 10 million cars produced each year by the first three groups (Volkswagen, Toyota and Alleanza Renault Nissan Mitsubishi) are no longer enough to have sufficient economies of scale, then the merger card becomes indispensable above all for companies like Fca. The group led by Mike Manley must execute the last industrial plan presented by Sergio Marchionne shortly before his death, on July 25th 2018, with the announcement of a long series of news especially at Jeep (which has become the spearhead of the group) and with the growth of Alfa Romeo in terms of range and volume. Now to kick off the plan it is not enough to show concept cars like the Fiat Centoventi or the Alfa Romeo Tonale baby suv, but we must make the promised cars. And here we need money (many) and platforms. Fca, however, does not have the economic resources of a giant like Volkswagen, which has put 60 billion on the modular Mqb platform and has destined another forty on electric cars with the relative huge investments destined to the development of the Meb platform specific for the cars on tap.
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It is clear that in an increasingly liquid automotive industry, shared modular platforms are a key point. Without you don’t go anywhere. In fact, the platforms, also called architectures, are the bases that allow you to build different models, even of different brands, reducing the necessary investments because they are spread over different product ranges.