Americans Increasingly Turning to Four-Cylinder Engines; V-8 Production Tanking

Americans Increasingly Turning to Four-Cylinder Engines; V-8 Production Tanking

By Scott Doggett May 21, 2010

American consumers opted for four-cylinder engines in 49 percent of the new cars and light-duty trucks they purchased last month in response to buyer's concerns over fuel costs, according to J.D. Power and Associates' Power Information Network.

Four-cylinder engines were in 46.5 percent of new vehicles purchased during the first quarter of this year, Power said. That's up from 41.9 percent in the first quarter a year earlier, when gasoline was averaging about $2.31 a gallon versus $2.86 now, according to AAA's daily nationwide average calculations.

Granted, buyers often don't have engine choices. Across the board, the numbers of V-8s and V-6s available as a percentage are falling while the percentage of four-cylinder engines in new vehicles is rising.

That's because automakers are under pressure to meet tightening fuel-economy standards, and smaller engines help them do that. Also, as we've often reported, automakers are doing a good job squeezing the same amount of horsepower and torque out of four-cylinder engines as had only been found in V-6s until recently.

J.D. Power forecasts that four-bangers will account for 51 percent of vehicles produced in North America in 2012, up from 48 percent that Power forecast a year ago. V-8s are expected to account for just 17 percent of North American production in 2012.

Scott Doggett:  is an AutoObserver.com Associate Editor.