World car

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The phrase world car is used to describe a car designed for, or achieving, worldwide sales using the same platform and components, often with variety of body styles. Examples include the Ford Mondeo[1] and Focus[2] and modern no-frills cars such as the Fiat Palio, Dacia Logan and VW Fox.

Market needs worldwide

Despite being a global design initially, world cars have to have specific changes made per national laws/regulations, or cultural differences / market tastes where these are divergent (e.g. in Brazil where ethanol/flexifuel vehicles are popular) or in the United States where petrol is inexpensive and larger engines are popular.

One vehicle that is an example of this is the Volkswagen Golf (currently sold in the Mk VI version), offered only with a 2.5-litre 5-cylinder petrol in the United States and Canada, but in Europe, it has 1.4, 1.4 TSI turbo, 1.6, 2.0, 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder and 3.2 V6 petrol and 1.9 SDI diesel and 2.0 TDI turbodiesel engines. The differences between market needs are not just reflected per equipment levels (in Europe the Golf offers multiple trim levels, compared to North America where it is only available in two versions, and sold as a premium hatchback rather than a workaday family car as in Europe.

References

  1. ↑ Marvellous Mondeo, The Daily Telegraph, April 27th, 2007
  2. ↑ The View From China: Despite the Auto Industry’s Pedal-to-the-Metal Growth, a Safety Play May Offer the Safest Play Money Morning, April 30th, 2008
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