Renault-Nissan Debuts Common Modular Family

Derek Kreindler
by Derek Kreindler

Renault-Nissan gave us their first look at their new “kit” dubbed “Common Modular Family”. The new will use four pieces, the powertrain, the dashboard and area aft of the firewall, the “cradle” that holds the engine and front suspension and lastly, the rear section that could be configured for the guts of an all-wheel drive system.

Renault-Nissan expects CMF to underpin as many as 14 nameplates, accounting for 1.6 million vehicles annually. According to the auto maker, purchasing costs should decrease by 20-30 percent, while R&D costs should see a 30-40 percent reduction.

Like VW’s MQB kit, CMF should be able to underpin a wide variety of cars, with the various “Lego pieces” able to make everything from hatchbacks and sedans to larger SUVs that require a higher driving position. In world markets, CMF will underpin the Renault Laguna, Espace and Scenic, while the Nissan Qashqai, X-Trail and Rogue will adopt it on the Nissan side. The Nissan vehicles will debut later this year, while Renault’s offerings will have to wait until the end of 2014.

While the choice of using CMF for popular high-position cars like the Scenic and Qashqai is obvious for Europe, the addition of the D-segment Laguna is interesting; could we see CMF being used for Nissan sedans on our shores at a later date? I wouldn’t bet against it, though the first interation of CMF will reportedly be limited to just the three crossovers through 2020. The FF-L platform that underpins the Altima, Maxima and Murano is a bit long in the tooth, and there’s no reason why CMF couldn’t be adapted for these purposes.

Derek Kreindler
Derek Kreindler

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  • CelticPete CelticPete on Jun 20, 2013

    When I read Nissan I just think "more CVTs". I hope the modular stuff doesn't work for them and they go out of business. The Altima is on my list for the worst rental car I ever rented. As for JD power - that list is stupid anyway. Initial quality? Huh. Most cars have like 100 things wrong with them according to that stupid list but funny the new cars I have had were just fine. Seriously. Oh wait I went to the link. It's even dumber then I thought. New cars have so few things wrong with them it focuses on 'design' flaws not actual problems. Haha. So basically we know Porsche and Audi have the biggest fanboys buying them. As much as I dislike Nissan outside of their lousy CVTs the cars are reliable enough for any more person who does like drive off curbs at 40mph or ignore the low oil light..

  • Edjose17 Edjose17 on Sep 29, 2013

    FF-L Platform is no longer used in current gen Maxima, Altima or Murano. It was replaced in 2007 by Nissan D platform. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_D_platform

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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