Honda Aims to Cut Costs by Consolidating Platforms

Honda Motor Co. is developing a single platform for its three most popular models to cut related purchasing costs 30% and boost shared content to 40%-50% by value, The Nikkei reports.

The Japanese newspaper, which does not cite its sources, says two of those models, the Civic small sedan and CR-V crossover, currently have about 20% of their parts in common, even though they share a platform.

The third vehicle to ride on the new platform will be the Accord midsize sedan, which is currently based on a different chassis. The three models account for 40% of Honda's worldwide volume.

The new platform will be phased in between 2015 and 2017 as the next generation of each model is introduced, The Nikkei says.

Honda also intends to boost its ratio of outsourced components to 40% by 2020 from 16% in 2011, according to the newspaper.