ULEV Standards Push VVT Growth

Automotive Industries, Sept, 2001

The pressure on manufacturers to meet an increasing number of Ultra-Low Emission Vehicles (ULEVs) in the production mix and increase CAFE levels while offering a wide range of vehicle/powertrain packages is forcing manufacturers to rapidly adopt variable valve technology. The table at left shows that the adoption over the next five years will not be restricted to niche or high-priced vehicles and engines. The CSM forecast of high volume North American engine family programs -- those with production volumes of over 300,000 units per year -- indicates that GM, Ford and DaimlerChrysler will offer VVT on approximately 75 to 80 percent of their vehicles by 2006. The New Domestics -- which have the current lead in VVT applications -- will place VVT systems on 60 percent of programs. Their penetration is shown lower in the table because they offer a larger number of smaller volume engines that are not shown here. Including all engines, the new domestic VVT penetration is equal to that of the Big 3 at 80 percent for the 2005 calendar year. The greatest amount of all this incremental volume is back loaded, coming on stream in 2004.

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