Are these two cars built on the same platform? There seems to be a lot of “platform” sharing going on these days…but I didn’t know that GM and Toyota did this.
Also, is the Audi A4 the same car as the VW Passat?
The Vibe and Matrix are built in a factory jointly owned by GM/Toyota. Their last effort was the late 80’s/early 90’s Nova/Corolla pair.
The A4 & Passat are, for the most part, the same car.
As are the A8 & Phaeton. There’s a story in the July 2004 edition of Automobile showing how each model differs.
They are both pretty much corolla wagons, but are also offered with the 180 HP celica engine.
Don’t forget the (GM) Geo Prism / Toyota Corolla, built in a Toyota facility in California some time ago. Hell, all the Geos were Japanese manufacturers: the Storm was built by Isuzu (as the Impulse for Isuzu) and the Metro was a rebadged Suzuki Swift (also sold in Canada as the Pontiac Firefly). Similarly, the Isuzu Rodeo is also sold as the Honda Passport, and the Chevy S10s / GMC Sonomas were also sold for a while as the Isuzu Hombre. Oh, and the Nissan Quest (in its first few years) was identical to the Ford Windstar / Mercury Villager and was assembled in the same plant in Ohio.
And of course, the A4 and the Passat are similar because Porsche / Audi / Volkswagen are all owned by the same company. It’s not surprising that they share platforms, much as Ford does with Lincoln and Mercury and GM does with all of its brands.
Going off of memory here, but I think this is incorrect. I believe that the Audi A4 and the VW Jetta are actually the same platform. I believe the Passat has more in common with the A6. Also, the Audi TT and VW Beetle and Golf/Cabrio share the same platform as the A4 and the Jetta.
Nitpick: The NUMMI plant in Fremont, CA is not a Toyota facility. NUMMI is a corporation jointly owned by Toyota and GM. Last I knew, a number of Toyota trucks were also produced there.
FWIW, however, it is run more like a Toyota plant than a GM one. The cars built there are much better than the standard GM fare. A good friend of mine works as a service writer at a Pontiac dealership and knows cars inside-out. He recently had the option to buy any Pontiac for cheap, and the Vibe was the only one he’d seriously considered. Riding it it myself, it felt damn near as solid as my Lexus does.
Yes, the A4 & the Jetta are siblings. I stand corrected.
Also, the Nova mutated into the Prizm.
So NUMMI is like Diamond Star (a former joint venture between Mitsubishi and Chrysler, responsible for the Mitsubishi Eclipse / Eagle Talon / Plymouth Laser and the Mitsubishi Galant VR4)? I did not know that. I had assumed that plant was just owned by Toyota and did contract manufacturing for GM. I knew that the vehicles produced there were of Toyota quality – a couple of my friends bought Prizms which were every bit as reliable as the more expensive Corollas of the same years. They also had them serviced at a Toyota dealership.
And I should have caught the A4 / A6 thing, given that I have two friends who each own one or the other – :smack: The Jetta is an A4, the Passat is an A6, and the Phaeton is an A8.
Matrix owner here.
The Vibe is made in Cali, the Matrix is built about 150 KM from where I live (in Cambridge Ontario).
They are the same vehicle and share everything except body panels and glass. Toyota supplied the engines, tranny’s and most of the mechanices while Pontiac designed the interior.