General Motors (GM) looks to double lifespan of vehicle platforms

IHS Automotive forecasts that GM will shift to Vehicle Strategy Sets beginning in 2018 starting with the Corsa.

General Motors is undertaking an extensive overhaul of its vehicle development process that will include designing its global vehicle fleet around just a few building blocks, reports Reuters. The effort is intended to spread engineering and research costs for a given lineup over millions more vehicles and could push the basic underpinnings to last more than a dozen years, said the report, citing GM president Dan Ammann. Global product development chief Mark Reuss is aiming for up to 2.5 million units in sales per year from a variety of models built on the same platform as the Chevrolet Cruze, for example, according to the report.