10+ Cars Sold in India that share the same platform

India is world's 5th largest automobile market. And considering the demographics of Indian customers, there comes multiple challenges for the automobile manufacturers. One among which is rolling out the best of features in their vehicles at a very competitve price range. So what do manufacturers do to solve that problem? They either spend valuable time and effort in R&D or they sometimes makes business deals with other brands to share their technologies and vehicle platforms with each other. Sometimes they just share the same engine. And today we will talk about cars from different brands that share the same platform.

car platform

1. Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza & Toyota Urban Cruiser: Starting with Suzuki Vitara Brezza. This car was first unvieled at 13th Auto Expo in February 2016 and was launched 2017 in India. It was launched with petrol and diesel variants in India. And was manufactured on the Heartect platform. From its debut day in its run Vitara Brezza has enjoyed wide popularity and high volume of sales. And then comes 2020 when we see the launch of Vitara Brezza facelift with some major design upgrades and technological upgrades. Now in the same year 2020 Toyota Urban Cruiser gets launched. Which indeed was just a rebadged Vitara Brezza, meaning that it shared the same Heartect platform and also the same K15B engine. The Toyota Urban Cruiser distinguished itself from the former in terms of minute interior and exterior cosmetic changes.

2. Maruti Suzuki Baleno & Toyota Glanza: Maruti Suzuki Baleno was launched in 2015 in India in its petrol and diesel variants. And got its first upgrade in 2019 both in terms of external design and car's technical features. This car too was manufactured on the same Heartect Platform. Now talking about Toyota Glanza, it was launched on June 6th 2019. Which was actually a rebadged suzuki Baleno, but with slight changes such as front facia and steering wheel. Meaning that just like Suzuki Baleno, it was also manufactured on the same Heartect Platform.

3. Suzuki Grand Vitara & Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder: While Toyota Hyryder was launched in August 2022, the Suzuki Grand Vitara was launched in September 2022. Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder and Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara both are made on the Suzuki's Global-C platform. While both the cars share the same platform they do have their distinguish features such as front grill, headlights, and back lights. Both of them will be manufactured at Toyota's Bidadi based manufacturing plant in Karnataka.

4. Renault Duster & Nissan Terreno: Renault Duster launched in 2012 enjoyed quite a popularity and high volume of sales among the off-road enthusiasts. It was made on the Renault's B0 platform. In 2014 Duster sales hit the one lakh milestone. The duster AWD diesel variant got introduced. Then in 2016, Renault introduced and AMT gearbox with the 2016 facelift. The AMT was later joined by a petrol CVT variant, and thus widened the gearbox lineup. But that lead to the replacement of the old 1.6ltr engine by the new 1.5ltr naturally aspirated engine. But because of a much awaited overall upgrade in the Renault Duster, the company decided to pull the plug in 2022. Now talking about the Nissan Terrano. It was basically launched in 2013 and got discontinued in 2020. It was actually a rebadged Duster differentiating itself from the former in terms of designing perspectives. And just like its former self, it also experienced the same fate in the similar fashion but with much little popularity.

5. Mahindra Verito & Renault Logan: Renault Logan was launched in India in April 2007 in its diesel variant. And it was based on the Renault's B0 platform. It was the first car launched by Renault in its long and ongoing journey in India. As Renault did not had any big name in Indian market, so it collaborated with Mahindra and Mahindra to sell Logan in India under the name of Mahindra Renault Logan. But Logan faced tough competition from Tata Indica and experienced very low sales. Due to which Renault after long discussions with Mahindra decided to sell the entire rights of Logan to Mahindra and Mahindra. And its production ended in 2009. After acquiring the rights for logan in 2009 Mahindra and Mahindra relaunched the Logan with the name Mahindra Verito with three fuel types- Petrol, Diesel and CNG. Mahindra also chopped its boot and now it became a sub 4 meter car. Thus only 12% excise duty was imposed on it against the 27% it faced before as a sedan. Mahindra also introduced the electrically powered variant of verito too with the name eVerito. But due to low sales and BS6 emission standards it was discontinued in 2020.

6. Volkswagen Virtus & Skoda Slavia: Skoda Slavia was launched in India on March 28, 2022 whereas Volkswagen Virtus was launched on June 9, 2022. Both Slavia and Virtus were launched in Petrol variants competing against already players like Honda City and Hyundai Verna. Both Slavia and Virtus are based on Volkswagen's MQB-A0-IN platform, as Volkswagen owns Skoda. So they also share the same engine and various other components.

7. Hyundai Creta & Kia Seltos: Hyundai Creta was launched in India on July 21, 2015 in its petrol and diesel variants. It was offered with three engine options- 1.6litre petrol, 1.4litre diesel and a 1.6litre diesel. It was based on the platform of Elite i20 hatchback. Then in 2020 Creta got a complete makeover and got a completely changed facelift based on the Hyundai Kia K2 platform. Its the same platform on which Kia Seltos launched in 2019 was manufctured. Kia Seltos was launched in its diesel and petrol variants with multiple engine andd transmission options. So they share multiple common components and had similar performance specifications but are two completely different cars.

8. Tata Harrier & Land Rover Discovery Sport: Tata Harrier was launched in India in 2019 in its diesel variants. It was based on JLR D8 (OmegaArc) platform. It is the same platform used in the manufacturing of Land Rover Discovery Sport too. Tata Harrier was the first car by TATA for which they used this platform to make a car under the TATA badge after they acquired JLR in 2008. Land Rover Discovery Sport was launched in India in late 2014 in petrol and diesel variants. It got its first major upgrade in 2019. And the 2nd gen was based upon the JLRPTA platform also shared by Jaguar E-Pace and 2nd gen Range Rover Evoque.

9. Skoda Rapid & Volkswagen Vento: Volkswagen Vento was launched in India in 2010 in its petrol and diesel variants. It was based on Volkswagen's A05 (PQ25) platform. This car was offered with three engine options- 1.6 litre MPI petrol, 1.5 litre TDI diesel, and 1.2 litre TSI petrol. For the first time in March 2011 Vento dethroned the segment leader Honda City with its sales number of 3973 units. It was considered a hit in the Indian automobile market until its production ended in 2022 due to the BS-VI emissions and also to give space to Volkswagen Virtus. It was widely lauded for its build quality. Skoda Rapid was launched in India in 2011 in in its petrol variants with a 1.2 litre TSI engine. Skoda being a subsidiary brand of Volkswagen, so the platform used for Rapid was also Volkswagen's A05 (PQ25). But Rapid was discontinued ahead of the Skoda Slavia's Launch on March 28, 2022.

10. Hyundai Venue & Kia Sonet: Hyundai Venue was launched in Indian market on May 21, 2019 in its petrol and diesel variants. Venue is based on the Hyundai-Kia K2 platform. It was initially offered with 3 engine options- 1.2 litre 4 cylinder naturally aspirated engine, 1.0 litre 3 cylinder turbocharged GDI petrol, and a 1.4 litre diesel engine. Then in 2020 the 1.5 litre diesel engine replaced the 1.4 litre diesel engine, which produces 10hp more than the former engine. In August 2022 N-Line variant was also introduced which had sporty lights and a more powerfull engine. On the otherhand Kia Sonet was launched in India on September 18, 2020 in its diesel and petrol variants. It was also based on the Hyundai-Kia K2 platform. Although being launched in the Covid-19 pandemic, it managed to achieve the milestone of 100,000 sales by September 14, 2021. Just like Venue, Sonet too is offered with 3 engine options- 1.2 litre naturally aspirated petrol, 1,0 litre turbo petrol and a 1.5 litre diesel engine.