Automobile Platform - Disadvantages

Disadvantages

• Badge engineering

Manufacturers that practice platform sharing have the ability to create several models based on the same design, but with different names. This leads to the public looking over certain models and cannibalized sales from competing divisions with essentially the same product. This was prevalent among U.S. domestic manufactures from the 1970s onward, e.g., the Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy, Buick Rainier, Saab 9-7X, and Isuzu Ascender.

• Incompatible changes to platforms

The two elements of platforms are constant and non-constant. If the non-constant elements are not designed to be easily integrated into the constant elements of the platform, extensive and expensive changes will have to be made in order to make the elements compatible again. Failure to do so negates the purpose of platform sharing in that it increases costs as opposed to reducing them.

• Product dilution

Platform sharing has the ability to be used in too many different models. However, in the mind of the consumers, the products may be too similar and more expensive products may be perceived to be cheaper. For example, the perceived value of a "luxury" brand may be not as desirable if it is too similar to a mass-market version of the same platform. Conversely, platform sharing may increase the price of the economic models.

• Risk concentration/Higher recall rate

The propensity for a higher number of recall is greatly increased with platform sharing. If a defect is found in one model and that model shares its platform with ten other models, the recall would be magnified by ten thus costing the manufacturer more time and money to fix. An example of problems spreading across platforms and numerous versions of models are the 2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls.