Through platform sharing Mercedes-Benz to reduce costs

To cut cost by over 1.5 billion Euros Mercedes-Benz aims in the coming years by sharing selected platforms and components across segments. The German luxury car manufacturer plans to reduce the number of platforms used by 2014-15, to achieve the target savings.

At present Mercedes has limited platform sharing, and many models of the company’s vast range have been developed at an enormous R&D cost. However, the company’s R&D now plans to focus on three basic architectures – one for rear wheel drive cars, one for compact front wheel drive cars and one for SUVs. Once developed, these platforms will underpin the new models across the segments, which will primarily help reduce costs.Automobile News