Ford and Mahindra recently announced their plans for joint development of two new SUVs for Indian market. They will also take into consideration other developing markets for their new products. The next generation Mahindra XUV500 will share its frame with a new Ford SUV for that segment.
They will keep designs totally different in these cases as rivalling each other would be their primary focus. Second product will be a compact SUV that may rival none other than Creta and Duster in India. Future Ford products will also use Mahindra powertrains and thus, engine from new XUV500 can also be shared.
Ford may also use EV technology from Mahindra to use in a product that will fall in Aspire segment. Some reports even hint that Aspire could also act as a good platform for electric vehicle development in Ford lineup.
Six months before, both Ford and Mahindra showed interest in sharing technology with each other and get benefits for both brands in their respective terms.
Ford could use Mahindra’s scale of production for easy part sourcing while Mahindra could get to know Ford’s world class global research and development style. These joint ventures will also be seen among other brands in coming months.
As brands are getting smarter day by day, they are planning to develop such impressive platforms that are flexible and can support various types of products like hatchbacks, sedans and SUVs from single one of them. Globally, brands like Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda and others share platforms among various vehicles.
From the skin, each one of them looks different while underpinnings are exactly the same as other one. Engine sizes vary between all these and level of luxury on offer is also brand dependent. They all gets benefits of sharing as overall cost is always lower than independent brands.
