Toyota has announced its intention to create more part-sharing between its models with its ‘Toyota New Global Architecture’ (TNGA). Toyota aims to enhance driving performance and fuel efficiency while also giving its new vehicles more attractive styling and improved handling, Toyota is focusing on joint development of powertrains and platforms together to create a lower center of gravity, on making components lighter and more compact, and on applying unified design through modularization.
Although retooling factories on a global scale to utilise TNGA will cost the company a large sum, they expect to recover that investment in a short time and for the returns to be more than just financial. Improved energy management could cut CO2 output by 55 percent and create plants that are flexible and competitive no matter what production volume is required. Smaller factory equipment will better utilise factory floorspace and more streamlined processes will mean shorter development periods for new models.
It’s no secret that most large car companies, including Toyota, have used similar strategies to bring production costs down and increase the availability of spare parts. But with TNGA, Toyota hopes to elevate the entire concept of component sharing and lean production and expects approximately half of its vehicles across the entire globe to feature TNGA by the year 2020.
The first of these will be revealed later in 2015 and is expected to be a midsized front-wheel-drive car – the new Prius, perhaps. The Japanese automaker then plans to roll out specific new platforms for smaller and larger front-wheele-drive cars before moving on to the more niche rear-wheel and all-wheel drive vehicles.
