There's platform sharing, and then there's model sharing, most recently exemplified by the dynamic duo that is the Toyota Supra and the BMW Z4. At its most cynical peak, the former tactic once allowed GM to field a GMC Jimmy, Chevy Blazer and Olds Bravada by slapping different badges on the same SUV. But when practiced with care, it allows automakers to offer very different vehicles based on the same architecture with significant cost savings.
Today, platform sharing is very much a necessity that is crucial to automakers' survival, and thankfully one has to really follow cars to figure out which models are related and where an automaker is pinching pennies on mechanical innards — it's not that obvious anymore.
Shared model development among rival automakers, on the other hand, is becoming more commonplace than it once was. Recent examples include the Subaru BRZ and the Scion FR-S, Mazda Miata and Fiat 124 Spider (affectionately known as the Fiata), and the Toyota Supra and BMW Z4, which has yet to gain a catchy nickname. (Zupra sounds like a medication TV ads for which would air every 10 minutes on CNN.) Other recent examples include the Infiniti QX30 and the Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class, but if there's one constant in the car buying public's perception of model sharing between automakers it's that people are rarely upset about it until it involves a sports car or a halo model. After all, buyers of the Ford Galaxy and the Volkswagen Sharan (and the SEAT Alhambra, for that matter) are unlikely to care about their MPVs sharing innards.
This brings us back to the Zupra — and to the argument that there is something lost when it comes to model and brand DNA when automakers collaborate on models important to the marque's pedigree. Fans of the Ford Mustang and the Chevrolet Camaro would certainly be upset if GM and Ford agreed to develop the next generation of these cars based on a common platform, in the manner of the Miata and the 124 Spider, so why wouldn't fans of the Z4 and the Supra?
For example, imagine if BMW and Toyota had collaborated on a sporty coupe back in the 1980s. What would that have looked like, and what would the reaction have been at the time? BMW and Toyota get to share development costs so the boards and the shareholders are happy, but the car-buying public gets two equally expensive versions of something very closely related.
How do you feel about two automakers collaborating on a sports car — does it stretch brand DNA too far?
Let us know in the comments below.
Source: Read Full Article