Move Over SUV, Small Engines Are On the Comeback - June 29th, 2007
Right now if you want to pick up the smallest engine available in a General Motors product, you’re looking at a ChevyAveo with a 1.6-liter four-cylinder built by Daewoo. Rumor has it, however, that even more dimunitive offerings are in the works.
GM’s Daewoo engineers in South Korea and the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center Co. in Shanghai are working on a new family of four-cylinders that go down to a mere 1.4-liters. The design of the units is taken from a Suzuki engine and should appear in the marketplace in time for the 2009 model year.
This news is yet another indicator of the strong impact both gasoline prices and environmental concerns are having on the direction of the automotive industry.
If the engineers can marry a decent amount of performance to a fuel-efficient engine and then put it in an appealing package, the time is ripe for the return of the compact car to the American road.
The hard truth is that the ubiquitous SUV is simply getting too expensive to feed and even bundled in so-called “low emission” hybrid packages, the popular behemoths aren’t green enough for the increasingly environmental concerns of the American public. We’ll be keeping our eye on what GM does with that little engine.
Posted on June 29th, 2007 by Shorty
Filed under: lifestyle |
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