General Motors shared platforms
The GMC Suburban and Yukon share a platform with the Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe, respectively. The vehicles, except for grille and name, are identical. However, there are buyers who will only buy GMC, and would not think of purchasing a Chevrolet. Here's a guide to the shared platforms of General Motors.
BuickChevroletGMCOldsmobilePontiac
Century,
Century Wagon
  Cutlass Cierra,
Cutlass Cruiser
 
Roadmaster,
Estate Wagon
Caprice Classic,
Impala SS,
Caprice Wagon
   
Park Avenue  Ninety Eight 
 Camaro  Firebird
Riviera  Aurora 
LeSabre  Eighty Eight,
LSS
Bonneville
 Cavalier  Sunfire
 Corsica, Beretta   
Skylark  AchievaGrand Am
RegalLumina,
Monte Carlo
 Cutlass SupremeGrand Prix
 Lumina Minivan SilhouetteTrans Sport
 TahoeYukon  
 SuburbanSuburban  
 BlazerJimmyBravada 
 AstroSafari  
 S-10 PickupSonoma  
Chrysler Corporation shared platforms
Chrysler markets the Chrysler Concorde as a premium family sedan, the Eagle Vision as a sophisticated sports sedan, and the Dodge Intrepid as a standard family sedan. All are built on the same LH platform with only minor sheet metal and decor differences targeting three major market segments.
ChryslerPlymouthDodgeEagle
 NeonNeon 
CirrusBreezeStratus 
Sebring Avenger 
Concorde,
New Yorker,
LHS
 IntrepidVision
Town &
Country
VoyagerCaravan 
Ford Motor Company shared platforms
Ford needed a way to reach more upscale buyers of sport-utility vehicles. This spring Ford will introduce the Mercury Mountaineer to be built on the same platform as the popular Ford Explorer.
FordMercury
EscortTracer
TaurusSable
ThunderbirdCougar
Crown VictoriaGrand Marquis
ContourMystique
ExplorerMountaineer
Japanese automakers shared platforms
The Big Three are not the only ones with shared platforms.
ToyotaLexus
CamryES300
LandcruiserLX450
NissanInfiniti
MaximaI30
Shared platforms between different manufacturers
The phenomenon of different manufacturers selling shared platform vehicles may be the most surprising. Research and development is very costly, therefore it is often more cost effective to form an alliance with another manufacturer and either sell an existing model or cooperate to develop a new model together.

For instance, rather than developing their own sport-utility vehicle, Honda now sells the Passport, built by Isuzu on the Isuzu Rodeo platform. Conversely, Isuzu now sells the Oasis minivan, built by Honda on the same platform as the Honda Odyssey minivan.

Chevrolet-GeoGMCSuzukiToyotaIsuzuHondaAcura
S-10 PickupSonoma  Hombre  
Prizm  Corolla   
Tracker Sidekick    
Metro Swift    
    OasisOdyssey 
    RodeoPassport 
    Trooper SLX
Manufacturer alliance shared platforms
Sometimes a new manufacturer is the result of an alliance. The Geo Prizm and Toyota Corolla share a platform produced by New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI) which is a General Motors/Toyota joint venture in California. In fact, Chevrolet doesn't officially build any of the Geos itself. The Prizm is produced by NUMMI, and the Tracker and Metro are produced by Suzuki.

Here are some more unexpected shared platforms:

ChryslerDodgeEagleMitsubishi
 Stealth 3000 GT
  TalonEclipse
SebringAvenger Galant
FordMercuryMazdaNissan
Ranger B-Series 
Probe MX-6, 626 
 Villager Quest
Globally shared platforms
Platform sharing is not just an American phenomenon--shared platforms are common in Europe and Japan as well. Indeed, these days shared platform vehicles are becoming global platform vehicles as manufacturers seek to build "world cars"--cars that meet the needs of consumers in more than one country. Ford is currently selling vehicles globally off the same platform, designated CDW27. This platform is called the Mondeo in Europe, Taiwan and the Middle East, while it's known as the Contour and Mercury Mystique in North America. Shortly there will be other global cars, such as the new 1997 Cadillac Catera which will be available this fall and will share a platform with the German Opel Omega MV6.
FordMercuryGlobal
ContourMystiqueMondeo
CadillacOpel
CateraOmega MV6

The bottom line is economics. By building several vehicles off one platform, as well as forming multi-national alliances, the cost of producing vehicles drops considerably. And since the automotive business is so competitive these days, some of these savings are passed on to the consumer in the form of lower prices.

At the same time, many more markets can be reached simultaneously, giving consumers more choices. When shopping for a new car, it is important to take advantage of these choices. Look at the charts--if the car you are looking at shares a platform with another, look at the other vehicles from that platform as well--you may have more choices than originally expected.

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