What Is a Twinned Vehicle?

Understanding what a twinned vehicle is could make a huge difference in your car buying experience. If you know that you can get mostly the same components at a lower price by choosing a different brand, wouldn’t you want to do that?

Some of us would answer this question in the affirmative, but others feel the brand makes a difference to them. Let’s take a look at what this type of vehicle is and provide a few examples to give you a better idea of what you should expect from these vehicles when your car shopping.

The Definition of a Twinned Vehicle

These vehicles are offered in the same size and with the same components under the body but with different badges. General Motors has been doing this for a long time, but that doesn’t mean Ford and formerly Chrysler haven’t done the same thing. GM is most famous for the twinned vehicles of the 1980s when it seemed the same sedan came with the Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac badges on it. Today, we see this happening on some vehicles in the market, and it might make you wonder why automakers do this.

No, Automakers Aren’t Trying to Pull the Wool Over Our Eyes

It might make you a little angry to think that Lincoln and Ford SUVs could be identical under the skin, but it shouldn’t. Once you get past the underneath stuff, the brands take a detour from each other. It’s well-known that as you move to a higher class of vehicle, you find more features at the base levels to be the differentiator. In some cases, vehicles that have been twinned will have subtle differences in the driving manners and ride quality to provide a difference between a mainstream vehicle and a luxury ride.

Higher Brand Names Can Take the Build Farther

If we look at the GMC Sierra 1500 and the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, we see trucks that are twinned. This has been part of the market for decades, and it doesn’t seem like it will end. In fact, if there was only one GM pickup in this class, it might sell better than the Ford F-150, but we’ll never know. Even so, the two GM trucks take things to different heights of capability and quality. The GMC Sierra reaches truly luxurious levels of driving with the Denali and Denali Ultimate trims. The High Country Silverado, while impressive, doesn’t quite get to these heights.

Why Would an Automaker have a Twinned Vehicle?

The simple and straightforward answer is cost. If an automaker has everything the same under the skin of a vehicle and offers that vehicle in different brand lineups, this can save a lot of money. Instead of developing more engines, suspension systems, and platforms, automakers can focus on the items that differentiate the brands. Think about the difference between a Chevrolet Travers and Buick Enclave. The Buick is quieter, smoother, more luxurious, and fits in the premium market. Basically, these two SUVs are exactly the same, but the Buick items make it different from the Chevy model.

When Vehicles Share Platforms, are They Twinned?

No, sharing platforms does not create twinned models in the market. In fact, many automakers are working to develop platforms that work well across various vehicle sizes and classes. These adaptable platforms do not create twinned models. An excellent example of how this isn’t the case comes in the form of the unibody SUVs we see in the market. Often, we call these SUVs crossovers because they came from cars, in some form or fashion.

Crossover SUVs are built on platforms that either currently belongs to or formerly were part o the sedan market. With the disappearance of some sedans, these SUVs now occupy the platforms alone. Regardless, The same platform was used to build the former Ford Fusion and Ford Edge. The Fusion is a sedan, and the Edge is an SUV, but these are not twinned models. To be twinned, these two vehicles would need to be offered in the same size and basic class but with different badging. This is certainly not the case for the Edge and Fusion.

Do More Vehicles Share Platforms or are More Twinned?

Since the dawn of the crossover SUVs, more vehicles share platforms than those that are twinned. In fact, in today’s market, with the proliferation of electric vehicles, we see more models sharing platforms, sometimes across brand lines, than we do twinned vehicles. An example of this is found in the new Toyota EVs. The Toyota bZ4X, Lexus RZ, and Subaru Solterra all share a platform together. Subaru is not part of Toyota, but the two automakers have collaborated on other projects and have shared platforms in the past. These three EVs ride on the same eTNGA platform, but they are not twins.

Where do We Most Often See Twinned Vehicles?

Most of the time, you can spot twinned vehicles when you look at automakers with several car brands. Sometimes it’s not so obvious, especially when the brand group has several names under the umbrella. We are most familiar with what GM and Ford offer as twinned vehicle models, but not other brands. Volkswagen has twelve car brands under its group and some of those shares everything except the bodywork. We don’t see many of these models in the United States because we only see a few of the brand names.

How Can You Benefit from Knowing About Twinned Cars?

If you’re shopping for a lower trim of a vehicle in the premium or luxury class, you might find the same equipment at a lower price on one of the higher trims of the mainstream vehicle. In this case, a twinned vehicle can save you some money, as long as you don’t mind driving a Chevy instead of a Buick or Cadillac. On the other hand, if brand badging matters to you, go for that higher model and know you’re getting a vehicle that’s trusted across several brands to be a good option for you to drive.

Is your current ride a twinned vehicle? Did you know what these vehicles were before reading this article?