Currently reading: China’s cost secret: sharing standard parts

Europe and Japan look to the Chinese model of parts standardisation in a bid to compete

There's a simple but crucial secret behind how the Chinese brands have managed to develop cars so quickly at costs much lower than those faced by manufacturers in Europe, but it also runs counter to the way traditional car makers work: they share parts.

The ability to use standard parts across multiple models isn't new, and it is one the big reasons why global car giants such as the Volkswagen Group and Stellantis have grown to the size they are. The more you build (or source) of a single part, the cheaper it becomes.