What is a car "platform"?

[WinkOsmosis]

Well? Is it a specific set of components? It's obviously not the frame of a vehicle, or the engine, transmission, or the suspension in all cases. What could it possibly be??

Edit: I found this.

Webmaster: a platform actually seems to be defined as a collection of fixed hard points, so that different vehicles with the same points can be built on a single assembly line, with similar crash characteristics. Hence, the Reliant, Spirit, Daytona, Limousine, and Caravan, despite having major differences in appearance, handling, length, height, etc., can be said to be on the same platform - and would be even if they did not also have very similar suspensions and engines.

 

[Ryan]

I specific vehicle design that can be significantly altered, but still contains most of the unique characteristics of the original implementation.

 

[iamwiz82]

its the combination of all of those manipulated to create new vehicles but use the same design and machinery. An example would be the Camry and the RX330. While not the same sizes, they share many common parts and design cues.