Determinants in the adoption of new automobile modular platforms: What lies behind their success?

International audienceThe purpose of this paper is to analyse the key factors behind the adoption of new automobile modular platforms from the perspectives of product design, manufacturing network and production systems.Design/methodology/approachAn in-depth and qualitative cross-case analysis of European manufacturing networks was performed based on the modular platforms of seven automobile manufacturers.FindingsThe adoption of modular platforms has changed automobile product architecture helping automobile manufacturers to improve their manufacturing network outputs. The results show that operational flexibility and scope and scale economies at manufacturing network level depend on the platform design – degree of modularity – and the manufacturer’s product and manufacturing network conditions. This new product architecture allows for the new production systems to be efficient in terms of flexibility and versatility without overinvestment.Originality/valueThe main contribution to the research literature is the combination of traditional product architecture with the manufacturing network approach to analyse the influence of product design on production systems, especially regarding the adoption of new automobile modular platforms