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Ford Development Chief Details Five-Platform Strategy

A long time ago, Ford announced that all of its models (including from Lincoln) would use a total of nine platforms. But after Alan Mulally and Mark Fields, chief executive officer James Hackett decided on a different, cost-saving approach towards the One Ford strategy.
2019 Ford Focus steering wheel 87 photos
Photo: Andrei Tobosaru for Ford Romania
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Back in August 2018, head of product development and purchasing, Hau Thai-Tang, declared at the J.P. Morgan Auto Conference in New York that Ford would bring the number of platforms down to five. The question is, what vehicle architectures is he talking about?

In an interview with Automobile Magazine, the veteran executive explained that front-wheel-drive cars and crossover would rely on the C2. This platform was introduced in 2018 by the Focus Mk IV, and the Escape (a.k.a. Kuga) will get it too.

All rear-/all-wheel-drive vehicles such as the 2020 Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator rely on the CD6, a platform that’s engineered for both hybrid and plug-in hybrid applications. Next up, there’s the body-on-frame platform that underpins everything full-size, from the F-150 to the Lincoln Navigator.

A fourth platform serves as the building block for commercial vehicles such as the Transit. The fifth and final vehicle architecture is for battery-electric applications, including the Mustang-styled Mach E electric crossover that Ford will reveal in April 2019 for the 2020 model year.

“Our goal is to migrate all our products onto those five flexible architectures. We don’t want to proliferate orphan architectures going forward,” said Hau Thai-Tang. By that, the executive refers to the S550 architecture of the Ford Mustang, which features IRS akin to the independent rear suspension of the Fusion.

The Blue Oval found $25.5 billion in efficiencies throughout the automaker’s businesses, with $20 billion or 80 percent coming from the five-platform strategy. “We want to make sure that our cost structure is robust so if industry demand falls, we are still profitable,” concluded Thai-Tang.

Although Ford is steering away from sedans and conventional-bodied cars in the United States to focus on crossovers and utility vehicles, look at Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, and Kia. All of them continue to manufacture sedans in the United States, and these automakers also offer hatchbacks such as the Corolla Hatchback and Elantra GT.

Only time will tell if this bet on the most popular segments pays off, especially if the price of crude oil bounces back to the historical high of $145.31 in July 2008.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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