Fit for Purpose?

Photo by Fotis Nakos on Unsplash

Over time, at first gradually, then suddenly, we seem to have become a fit-for-purpose society. In the same way that we achieved manufacturing scale by producing large numbers of parts efficiently, and then designing products that could use them interchangeably, we have sucked character out of businesses (and arguably society) in the same pursuit of efficiency.

Almost every vehicle from the VW Group that is transverse-front-engined and bigger than a VW Up will eventually be based on the MQB parts matrix. MQB stands for Modularer Querbaukasten, or modular transversal toolkit. It lays down a series of hard points for a huge range of cars and powertrains. These hard points determine the common design of production line. But they also allow systems (for example entertainment systems or aircon or axles) of  differing sizes and complexities to be fitted, provided their mounts link with the hard points. All the electric systems are also designed to pair up with…