The GLK gets a facelift for the 2013 model year, starting in August. There are two variants, the rear-drive GLK350 and the all-wheel-drive GLK350 4Matic. A turbodiesel version, the GLK250 BlueTec, is expected to go on sale around April 2013. It gets a 2.1-liter, four-cylinder. That will be the first four-cylinder diesel for the brand in the United States.
The C-class got its facelift last year.
Sharing architecture means multiple models are on the drawing board at the same time. The degree of sharing varies around the industry, but models on the same architecture generally share certain common denominators like wheelbase and track, the distance between the wheels front-to-back and left-to-right, and a common floor pan, like the foundation of a house.
In this way, car companies can buy parts in much greater quantities. That saves a staggering amount of money on unit costs. It also makes auto plants more efficient and more responsive to consumer demand, because it takes less time and effort to change the mix of models produced.
To cite another example, the North American version of the Ford Focus used to be a unique model that accounted for annual sales of around 200,000. Starting with the 2012 model, the new Ford Focus is one of 10 models that ride on the same global architecture, accounting for more than two million units worldwide.
Without disclosing specific costs, Ford said that from 2006 to 2012, it reduced by two-thirds the cost of putting a different model, or what it calls a different “top hat” on a common global platform.
Sure, the car companies skim off a lot of the difference in terms of profit, but those savings also mean they can afford to put more content in each car, and spend more on developing new products, all without raising prices – or at least, without raising prices so much.
