Nissan-Renault has followed the lead of Volkswagen Group by extending commonized platforms across various models of both brands.
The Nissan-Renault alliance calls its version ‘Common Module Family’ (CMF) and claims it will generate a reduction in entry cost per model in the region of 30-40 per-cent and a 20-30 per-cent cut in parts costs.
Strictly speaking, the Nissan-Renault CMF is not ‘platform sharing’ in the traditional sense as it can involve several platforms. Instead, the Nissan-Renault system is engineering architecture based on the use of compatible ‘Big Modules’ – the engine bay, cockpit, front underbody, rear underbody and electrical/electronic architecture.
The idea is to increase the modules common to several platforms in order to standardize components and increase the number of vehicles per platform.
So the first use of the CMF engineering by the alliance companies is for compact and large car segments including 1.6 million vehicles per year and 14 models (11 for Renault and three for Nissan). The first Nissan vehicles to be released will be late this year when we see the new X-TRAIL, Dualis and Rogue, while the first Renaults will arrive in 2014 – the all-new Espace, Scenic and Laguna.
By 2020, the alliance company will have rolled-out CMF to Nissan and Renault production facilities in 5 continents and more than 10 countries.
