Geely, Volvo and Lectra all rely on CMA architecture to buy a Geely, is it equivalent to buying Volvo？
Geely, Volvo and Lectra all rely on CMA architecture. Does buying a Geely really mean buying Volvo? I believe this is many people’s doubts about the products of these three brands.
So, what is the main reason for doubt? First of all, Geely, Volvo and Link all belong to Geely Group. Furthermore, they all adopt CMA architecture. Finally, the products based on this platform are very similar in driving characteristics, which is the main reason why consumers have questions.
# What is architecture?
Before the concept of platform architecture was born, every product of major car companies was developed, manufactured and verified bit by bit from scratch, and circulated again and again, creating the final production model. I believe we have all heard that the birth of a new car at that time took at least 2-3 years of research and development cycle, which was very energy-consuming, time-consuming and capital-consuming for car companies. Therefore, there was the concept of building a car on a platform.
The first model to apply the platform concept is the Volkswagen Beetle. Although this model has been discontinued at present, it is its hot sale that makes the prototype of the platform car concept take shape.
The birth of the platform will bring very good cost reduction effects to enterprises, including reducing R&D costs and shortening R&D cycle; Reduce the cost of parts and improve the sharing of parts and components; Reduce the supply chain management system and reduce the number of parts.
Not only that, the major platforms that have emerged in recent two years are speculating on one advantage, that is, the platform can be compatible with the production and research and development of products from A0-C level, which is very important. In other words, car companies only need to spend a lot of energy and time in the early stage to do a good job in the compatibility and safety performance of the platform, and then they can launch products such as A0-class cars, medium-sized cars or medium-sized SUVs on this platform, with low cost, high efficiency and "fast delivery".
# Is it really good to use the platform?
At present, major car companies are speculating on the advantages and strength of their own platforms and architectures. But don’t forget that the original intention of the concept of platform and architecture is actually to help enterprises save R&D costs, so this is why many products under the same platform have similar personalities.
Everyone is most familiar with the Volkswagen MQB platform and the Toyota TNGA architecture. Volkswagen has adopted this platform from Tiguan and Passat to Golf and Sagitar. The earliest PQ25 and PQ34 are all like this. It is precisely because of the platform architecture that we see that many Volkswagen products are obviously only front-drive cars, but the rear row has a very large bulge and the space utilization is extremely poor. Moreover, for example, the early low-profile models such as Golf, Sagitar and Jetta are criticized for their knob seat adjustment methods. Toyota’s products based on TNGA architecture have more compact and sporty chassis, without the soft and comfortable models of the year.
# Geely Group CMA Modular Architecture System
Let’s talk about China automobile brands again. With the increasing sales of automobile products and the demand for new products, the R&D cycle of products under the previous R&D system of enterprises is obviously too long, and it is very likely that the products will not keep up with the current mainstream problems of automobiles after they come out.
At this time, China enterprises represented by Geely came forward, and the CMA platform jointly developed by Geely and Volvo was launched. This is an infrastructure for mid-level cars, which can cover A-B model products.
Systematically speaking, CMA platform has considered the future production and manufacturing at the beginning of design, and will consider the universality of some parts in advance, such as our common window controller, in-car function buttons, engine foot mounting holes and so on.
Another great advantage is that the platform wheelbase and wheel track can be lengthened or shortened according to the positioning of R&D products, and it can adapt to more different types and levels of products on this platform. For example, there are many types of products born from CMA platform, such as Volvo XC40, Lingke 01, Lingke 02, Lingke 03, Lingke 05, Xingyue and Xingrui.
# Buying a Geely or a Lexus is equivalent to buying a Volvo?
If you have had contact with Geely, Lectra and Volvo products, you will understand the significance. Especially in the dynamic driving part, the suspension is tight and tough, and the driver can clearly perceive the road information. Especially when coming to the mountain road, the whole chassis suspension adjustment pays attention to communication, aiming to let the driver experience the fun of control.
Similar driving experience, which is one of the advantages based on the same platform. On the other hand, under the same platform, the safety performance of vehicle collision will be more guaranteed.
Taking Volvo XC40 as an example, the 2019 model got the highest score in the five major projects of American IIHS crash test. On the other hand, Linke 01, which is built on the same platform, has also achieved excellent results in all the tests of C-IASI with the same crash test project as IIHS in China. Especially in the 25% offset crash test of most joint venture vehicles, Volvo XC40 and Link 01 both achieved G-excellent results.
Geely Xingyue, also born on CMA platform, scored only M in the C-IASI25% offset collision, but the head, neck, chest, thighs, hips, legs and feet of the dummy all got G evaluation, which showed good protection performance for the dummy.
Reminiscent of Geely Xingrui, which has just been listed recently, from the data, its wheelbase of 2800mm fully meets the medium-sized car level, but the official positioning is family car, which is commonly known as compact car. However, the performance of Geely Xingrui is completely beyond the strength of compact products of the same class. In addition to excellent body size and space performance, the whole system is equipped with a 2.0TD engine, and the top price does not exceed 150,000.
If we compare the power data of Geely Xingrui with that of Volvo S60 T4, the same 2.0T engine has a maximum horsepower of 190Ps and a maximum torque of 300N·m, but the maximum power speed and torque speed of Xingrui engine are slightly advanced in the details. In the body size part, the data of length, width and height are ahead of Volvo S60, so how would you choose between them? And this is the advantage of building a car based on the platform architecture.
Summary:
This article doesn’t use too many technical terms or data. Brother Peng just wants to tell you with some easy-to-understand examples and words that there is no difference between good and bad in the platform architecture debate. For example, the MQB platform, which is widely used in the mass civilian field, is it really that good? Not necessarily.
Then, in the CMA platform currently used by Geely and Lectra, for example, it is basically the same origin as Volvo, and the adjustment of excessive sports has obvious brand tonality. But it will also shut out potential users who have a strong demand for comfort.
In the smaller part, that is, the universality of parts, each platform has its own characteristics. The advantage is that enterprises can save the cost of parts procurement, transportation and process. However, in the event that some parts suppliers have problems, consumers will end up "backing the pot".
Back to the original answer, Brother Peng personally feels that this should be considered from two aspects. One is the quality of hardware, based on the same architecture, the commonality of many parts, and the extra points in the safety performance, which are very Volvo and CMA.
If we understand from the rest of the software, the concept, design, configuration, brand and price are different, and both Geely and Lectra have their own characteristics, which is why Geely built the Lectra brand.
Then, if someone asks Brother Peng, does buying a Geely really mean buying a Volvo? My answer is, yes. Not only that, in the configuration part, Geely products will be more abundant than Volvo models. How to choose and how to recognize is up to you.