Factors that brought this into play were the Great Depression that resulted in fewer sales and lesser income as well as the shift to all-steel bodies that required more expensive production tooling.
Platforms were designated by letter. The link above states:
"Harley Earl showed Kaptur's conclusions to Fished Body and suggested that all GM cars share four basic body shells. He designeted these A-B-C-D. The A-body would be used by Chevrolet, standard Pontiac and small Oldsmobile. The large Pontiac, mid-size Oldsmobile and small Buick would use the B shell. The C-body accommodated the big Olds, big Buick, LaSalle and small Cadillac. And all Cadillac and Buick limousines used the D body."
That was the concept, but details varied over time.
Wikipedia has entries dealing with the bodies dealt with in this post: A platform here; B platform here; C platform here. At this time I drafted this (February 2024), some details did not agree with Lamm and Holls, who I am more inclined to trust.
The problem is, aside from Chevrolets, the bodies of other GM cars look essentially the same regarding profiles, door and window shapes and such. That is, they seem to share most body tooling and sheet metal stamping. Therefore, body type is difficult to clearly identify, the information in the quote above not being helpful. I lack charts of body dimensions, so the analysis below is simply based on study of photos. More precise information is greatly appreciated.
Photos below are of cars listed for sale on the Internet.
This is the new A-body Chevy. 1934 Chevrolet Standards carried over 1934 bodies.
The main change for 1936 was replacing the forward "suicide" door with one hinged on the A-pillar. Note that the back of the passenger compartment drops nearly vertically.
About the same wheelbase as the Chevrolet Master DeLuxe, but with a different aft profile. Might this be a B-body? Wikipedia says this is an A body.
Another example of a possible 1935 B-body 4-door sedan, though Wikipedia has this as an A. Front doors hinge on the B-pillar, sharing the shape seen on the 1935 Chevy in the top image. The new "Turret Top" (without a fabric insert) had its shape dictated by body engineers more than stylists who echoed the roof curvature in the window shapes.
The larger Olds Eight, with what seems to a C-body -- or B, according to Wikipedia. Quite similar to the Olds in the previous image, but note the top hinge on the C-pillar is mounted higher.
Buicks did not get the new bodies until the 1936 model year. This seemingly is like the above Olds Eight -- a B, Wikipedia says. The hood is long to accommodate an inline eight cylinder motor.
According to the quote above, this LaSalle should be sporting a B-body, if Wikipedia is correct. That should confirm my guesses regarding the two cars shown above. But...
Wikipedia has this as a C-body. Yet it looks like the LaSalle -- which brand Wikipedia ignored in the links above.
Yes, plenty of guesswork here. Aside from Chevrolet, there's so much similarity that I wonder if 1935-36 B and C bodies were worth different labels.
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