Industry Statistics

Automotive Industries,  March, 2000  by Dale Jewett

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"Crossovers" Limit Increase In Big Engines

North American consumers are gobbling up pickups and sport-utilities as fast as the automakers can crank them out, and buyers clearly prefer bigger engines to motivate their new haulers.

No one expects the public's appetite for multi-purpose vehicles to diminish over the next five years. Yet forecasts from PricewaterhouseCoopers Autofacts don't call for big gains in North American V-8 engine installations. "You see a rise in six- and eight-cylinder engines in the near future because the types of trucks people are buying now have larger engines," explains analyst Chris Benko.

"But as time goes on, the car-truck hybrids become more of a factor," Benko adds. "These vehicles take smaller engines originally used in cars." He says another factor in this is the introduction of inline five-cylinder engines, most notably by Ford Motor Co. "They will take volume away from four- and six-cylinder engines."

Elsewhere, four-cylinder engines are expected to remain king in South America, Asia-Pacific and Western Europe, although significant growth in sixes is expected in Europe, according to the study.

For data on PricewaterhouseCoopers Au to fact's engine forecast from 1997 to 2006, visit www.ai-online.com.

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