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AD&P; > September 2013 > FEATURE > Volkswagen Goes Common—But With a Difference > Gary S. Vasilash > gsv@autofeldguide.com made the transition from the New Beetle (1998 to 2010) to the current Beetle, they had to transform the factory. The plan is to change things like that. The goal is to have an approach where there is far more commonization both in product and process. This is not, the people at Volkswagen insist, a "platform strategy." That is often a situation where there is a platform on the bottom and a top hat on top. This goes beyond that, because the company wants to ofer variation without undue complexity. Realize that right now But they are looking at how these various elements can go together without having a simple cookie-cutter approach to vehicle development. They don't want what is sometimes referred to as "badge engineering," where the only diferences between one vehicle brand and another is the logo on the front and bits and pieces on the inside and outside of the car. According to VW spokesman Christian Buhlmann, the approach started with MLB at Audi; it covers vehicles ranging from the Audi A4 to the Volkswagen Toureag. (MQB is for cars like the Golf and Passat (the European version of that car, as the U.S. Passat was a special development for the U.S. market; it will become part of MQB in its next generation.). Volkswagen AG, the overall company, has assigned the development of kits to various brands. So there is the MQB, or Modular Transverse Kit, assigned to Volkswagen; the MLB, or Modular Longitudinal Kit, assigned to Audi; and the MSB, Modular And there is another acronym, MPB, which is the Group's Modular Production System. This standardized approach to manufacturing, Buhlmann said, contributed to the viability of Porsche, when the comparatively small volume of vehicles was making it difcult to achieve much in the way of economies of scale. p Just that section between the center of the axle and the accelerator pedal is common in the vehicles created with MQB. On the one hand, with things from the engine to the steering system being contained in that area accounts for a signifcant amount of value in the vehicle so this helps drive down costs by sharing components across millions of vehicles, on the other, by allowing the other areas to be variable, this means there is no "badge engineering" occurring. the company ofers some 310 diferent car models. (Realize that in addition to VW, the passenger car brands of the group include Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, SEAT, and Skoda.) It is not, they say, a "modular strategy." Yes, there are modules. In fact, they are creating modules for Powertrain, Chassis, Electrics/ Electronics, and Body & Trim. 32 Standard Car Kit, assigned to Porsche. There is a fourth assembly kit, too, for vehicles that are presently not in the company's portfolio, NSF, or New Small Family, which is not yet assigned. NSF is reckoned to be for vehicles that are suitable in terms of size and cost for emerging markets, while the others are for the established markets. In the case of VW, MPB makes it possible for the company to manufacture the Golf, Euro Passat and Tiguan (a crossover) on one assembly line, even though the wheelbases of the three vehicles are diferent (Golf: 2,637 mm; Passat: 2,712 mm; Tiguan: 2,604 mm). This is facilitated by common locations of clamping surfaces. Whereas previous vehicle designs had one- or two-element bodysides, with MPB and MQB vehicles are all twopart confgurations, thereby making the setup of clamping and welding equipment uniform. The vehicles build in a common sequence, as well. For example, there used to be three positions on the assembly line where a cockpit could be installed; all MQBbased vehicles will have the cockpit load at the same spot. One of the more interesting aspects of MQB is the area in the vehicle where there is a standardized dimension: from the center of the front axle to the accelerator pedal. Buhlmann said that some 60% of the value of a vehicle is found within that space—the powertrain, the HVAC unit, the axle, the steering system—yet it is an area that customers aren't all that interested in (yes, they may be keen on the engine, but the axle?). As VW makes