The Ford Global C-car Platform is Ford's global

compact car Compact car is a vehicle size class — predominantly used in North America — that sits between subcompact cars and mid-size cars. "Small family car" is a British term and a part of the C-segment in the European car classification. However ...

automobile platform. It replaces the Ford C170 platform and

Mazda B platform This list of Mazda model codes describes following model codes which have been used by Mazda since the 1980s. Naming scheme The company's model codes form the fifth and sixth characters of the VIN on post-1981 vehicles. The first character is a le ...

(BJ). The C1 platform debuted with the

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

an Ford Focus C-Max

compact MPV Compact MPV (an abbreviation for Compact Multi-Purpose Vehicle) is a vehicle size class for the middle size of MPVs. The Compact MPV size class sits between the mini MPV and large MPV (minivan) size classes. Compact MPVs remain predominantly ...

in early 2004. The platform is designed for either front- or

all-wheel drive An all-wheel drive vehicle (AWD vehicle) is one with a powertrain capable of providing power to all its wheels, whether full-time or on-demand. The most common forms of all-wheel drive are: ;1x1 : All unicycles Reflecting one axle with one ...

. First called the C1 platform, it was designed in Ford's European development center in

Cologne, Germany Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 million ...

, as the "C Technologies Program". It was said to be one of the largest platform programs in history at that time. The Ford Focus, Volvo S40 and V50, and Mazda3 (BK and BL) share about 60% of their parts and components. Thirty engineers each from Ford,

Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima (town), Fuchū, Hiroshima Prefecture, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, M ...

, and

Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...

worked in Cologne for two years to combine the compact-car engineering for all three automakers under the direction of Ford Director of C Technologies Derrick Kuzak,

Ford of Europe Ford of Europe GmbH is a subsidiary company of Ford Motor Company founded in 1967 in Cork, Ireland, with headquarters in Cologne, Germany. History Ford of Europe was founded in 1967 by the merger of Ford of Britain, Ford Germany, and Irish Henr ...

vice president of product development. The platform has been stretched creating the EUCD for use in future

vehicles. Among all of the cars, the

floorpan The floorpan is a large sheet metal stamping that often incorporates several smaller welded stampings to form the floor of a large vehicle and the position of its external and structural panels. In the case of monocoque designs, the floorpan i ...

is different, but the front and rear

subframe A subframe is a structural component of a vehicle, such as an automobile or an aircraft, that uses a discrete, separate structure within a larger body-on-frame or unit body to carry certain components, such as the engine, drivetrain, or suspe ...

suspension Suspension or suspended may refer to: Science and engineering * Suspension (topology), in mathematics * Suspension (dynamical systems), in mathematics * Suspension of a ring, in mathematics * Suspension (chemistry), small solid particles suspen ...

steering Steering is a system of components, linkages, and other parts that allows a driver to control the direction of the vehicle. Introduction The most conventional steering arrangement allows a driver to turn the front wheels of a vehicle using ...

braking A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of friction. Backgroun ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly di ...

, and some

electrical Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...

components are shared. Vehicles using this first iteration of the platform include: * 2003–2008

Mazda Axela , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one mi ...

/Mazda 3 (BK) (Note: production continued in China through 2013) * 2003–2010 Ford Focus C-Max (first generation) (C214), first European vehicle on this platform * 2004–2010 Ford Focus (second generation, Europe) (C307), (Note: the

Ford Focus (North America) The Ford Focus is a compact car (C-segment in Europe) manufactured by Ford Motor Company since 1998. It was created under Alexander Trotman's Ford 2000 plan, which aimed to globalize model development and sell one compact vehicle worldwide. The ...

continued on the C170 platform through 2011) * 2004–2012 Volvo S40 II (P11) * 2004–2012 Volvo V50 (P12) * 2005–2010 Mazda Premacy/Mazda 5 (CR) (and related Ford i-Max) * 2006–2013 Volvo C70 II (P15) * 2007–2013 Volvo C30 (P14) * 2008–2012

Ford Kuga The Ford Kuga is a compact crossover SUV ( C-segment) manufactured by Ford since 2008 mainly for the European market, and now in its third generation. Both front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive are offered. The Kuga was originally European-de ...

(C394) * 2008–2013 Mazda Biante * 2006-2012

Mazda CX-7 The Mazda CX-7 is a mid-size crossover SUV from Mazda, and is the production version of the MX-Crossport concept car. It was shown publicly for the first time at the 2006 LA Auto Show in January. Production officially began on February 20, 2006 in ...

Second generation

The C1 platform has been replaced by the global C platform (or C-car) and combines three previous platforms as part of Ford's "One Ford" efficiency drive. Ford global C platform vehicles: * 2011–2019 Ford C-Max (second generation) (C344) and Grand C-Max * 2012–2018

Ford Focus The Ford Focus is a compact car ( C-segment in Europe) manufactured by Ford Motor Company since 1998. It was created under Alexander Trotman's Ford 2000 plan, which aimed to globalize model development and sell one compact vehicle worldwide. The ...

(C346) * 2013–2019

Ford Escape The Ford Escape is a compact crossover SUV sold by Ford since 2000 over four generations. The first generation was jointly developed with Mazda which also created the Mazda Tribute and Mercury Mariner as the twin model. Second generations of t ...

(C520) * 2015–2019 Lincoln MKC * 2013–present

Ford Transit Connect The Ford Transit Connect is a compact panel van sold by Ford since 2002. Developed by Ford of Europe, the model line replaced sedan-based vans ( Ford Escort and Ford Courier vans) with a dedicated commercial vehicle platform. The model line ...

* 2015–present Ford Escort (China) Vehicles partially based on global C platform: * 2009–2013

/Mazda3 (J68/BL) * 2010–2018 Mazda Premacy/Mazda5 (CW) * 2013–2019 Volvo V40 II/V40 Cross Country (Y555/Y556)

References

{{Ford platforms C1 C1