The development of a new car, what does it consist of? A long term job

Opel has just presented its new corsa, and you are probably already thinking about developing the next generation. With this example we want to show you what is the development of a new car, and what steps each manufacturer follows when creating a new model that will launch, on average, 5 or 6 years ahead.

While the development times have been shortened thanks to the new technologies and computerization, some manufacturers are even considering renewing their cars every 5 years, like Volkswagen, a period of time that will allow the car to never be outdated and that, only 15-20 years ago, seemed completely crazy. Such is the development of a new vehicle.

The conditions

Like any new project, the development of a new car requires certain conditions, some requirements and limitations which are collected in an absolutely secret specification. And it is a secret because the commercial success or failure of each of the models to be launched largely depends on it.

In this first phase of development, the manufacturer sets out which car it is going to manufacture according to certain parameters. At this point the constructor should study the market and knowing what the customer is going to look for in the long term, but it can also alter consumer tastes and create a new segment, as Toyota did with its first RAV4 or Nissan with the first Qashqai.

The brand must propose objectives, study your typical client, but also consider some limitations. That is to say, it must propose a price both minimum and maximum, the approach, the size, what kind of engines it will mount, bodywork... But deadlines, sales objectives or the dreaded costes. It is, without a doubt, the first and most important step when it comes to developing a car, and there are many projects that, with this step already settled, have been paralyzed in the following levels.

design begins

This is the most creative part of the set. Once the conditions are known, the design of the new vehicle begins, and many other factors depend on it. Here begins to recreate what the new vehicle will be like through sketches first and computer recreations later. But be careful, it's not about making a drawing and that's enough.

Dozens of sketches and options are proposed, among which a selection depending, in large part, on the feasibility and price of bringing that design to production. That is why the sketches that the manufacturers show us generally have little to do with the final results. Although the main lines of each sketch are still present in the final design.

It is not only about designing the bodywork as a whole, but also details, logos and, of course, the interior, loaded with different individual details that will modify the overall result. Once the winners are chosen, the designs are recreated in 3D based on computer science, where you play with proportions, angles, colors, lights and shadows.

Shaping

It is curious that at this point the manufacturer does not have anything material in hand yet. It is time to do it and give shape to the previous designs. Are crated clay models or synthetic clay, at different scales, starting with small models where you can begin to see, already in reality, what the car will be like. In this step, many times different designs with certain differences are created to check which is the winning combination.

With these models, auxiliary elements such as rims, lights, headlights, rear-view mirrors... are already being installed so that the whole set is proportionate. These early models they are made, by the way, by hand, and are likely to receive many modifications throughout their construction.

Later, full-scale models began to be created, with the dimensions that the series models would have. It is a job that is currently carried out by robots following the guidelines of the base design, then the details are recreated by hand. They usually do not have an interior, which is a piece that is reproduced separately. Many of these first models are the ones that, later, and refined, are shown in the salons, those that on many occasions have neither engine nor interiors, with a very premature design.

tests begin

We have been developing our car for more than two years now, and it is time to start testing everything raised so far. We have some conditions and a design, and now it is the turn of the to prototypes, who will be in charge of finally giving life to this long and expensive project.

It is now when these first prototypes appear where the technology that the manufacturer wants to transfer to the street vehicle is put to the test. On many occasions these prototypes are authentic laboratories on wheels, as is the case of the recently presented Renault Eolab, a car that advances the technologies that some Renault models will debut back in 2020.

They are also some first functional prototypes that come to the halls and exhibitions. They already have functional elements such as the interior, the doors or a mechanism. Sometimes they only play with a motor that allows them to move minimally, other times the motor itself is the star of the presentation with a good amount of horsepower. Currently, hybrid mechanics are also usually presented that often do not reach production, or will do so much later.

the trial mules

This is perhaps the best known phase of development as well as one of the most secret. Many times we have shown you camouflaged vehicles with the most varied vinyls, and that is the test mules. There are many configurations, and the manufacturer rolls out many combinations to adjust what will later be the series model.

In early stages, cars they do not roll with their own bodies because they are presumably testing new chassis or suspension setups. Nothing adjusts and they roll authentic Fankestein. Little by little the final body is being placed. It is time to check the quality and test the cars to the limit.

When you see a mule with those such extravagant decorations, it is most likely that the final bodywork is already placed underneath, something that manufacturers are very suspicious of. Now testing the ultimate engines, available chassis configurations, ultimate interiors, and of course, every car is pushed to the limit driving through inhospitable places such as the Arctic Circle, places of extreme heat, high altitudes, humid terrain, highways and unpaved roads... Each manufacturer rolls and tests the car hundreds of thousands of kilometers to discover and fix bugs.

the car is ready

After all this development process, the car is ready. is presented to the public in the car shows already in its final configuration. The reach among the public is monitored, the marketing and sales strategies, and factory employees and mechanics begin to be trained for their arrival on the assembly line.

are previously manufactured pre series runs, models that already have the final shape and are used to adjust molds and machinery before mass production. Sometimes these pre-series models are the ones that we test or go to their presentation and, in general, they end up being destroyed.

The car already arrives at the production and they begin to carry out the first tests and to make the first sales. Now it's time to evaluate the work and continue adjusting some details that may fail. A few years of life await the new model in the market, undergoing one or more updates throughout its marketing. The manufacturer recovers, or not, the investment and begins the development of new models again.