Environmentally friendly cars may be trendy but powerful V8 engines are becoming more popular as Americans renew their love affair with horsepower, according to an Associated Press (AP) report.
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Citing Ward’s Automotive Reports, AP said that carmakers installed eight-cylinder engines in 29.1% of passenger vehicles built in North America for the US market last year, the highest rate since 1985 – the rate has risen every year since 2000.
In the same four-year stretch, smaller four-cylinder engines fell from nearly 27% to 25.3%, AP noted.
Associated Press said analysts and industry executives give a variety of reasons for the rise in V8s: strong demand for trucks and sport utility vehicles, relatively inexpensive petrol prices [though they are increasing again] and technology that is leading to improved fuel efficiency, even in bigger engines.
Consumer incentives also have allowed many people to “buy-up,” using cash rebates or low interest rates to help them nab a vehicle with a larger, more expensive engine, the report noted, adding that some simply want more muscle under the bonnet.
Aided by aggressive TV advertising, DaimlerChrysler’s 345-horsepower ‘Hemi’ V8 has emerged as the standard-bearer for beefy engines, AP said, adding that the engine gets its name from the hemispherical shape of its combustion chamber, allowing it to produce more power and achieve greater fuel economy.
Lee Weinman, a Ford dealer in Chicago, told Associated Press the fact that major automakers are beefing up engines at the same time they are spending billions on hybrid vehicles and fuel-cell technology speaks to the increasingly diverse tastes of American drivers.
For example, Nissan, which made its name in the domestic market selling small, fuel-efficient cars, recently launched the full-size Titan pickup with a hefty V8 engine to challenge models from the Detroit-based Big Three carmakers. Nissan also added a bigger engine and more horsepower to its latest Altima sedan, AP said.
But Associated Press noted that, while many consumers are choosing bigger engines, more also are opting for more ecologically friendly petrol-electric hybrid vehicles. For now, the only hybrids available in the United States are small cars made by Honda and Toyota, yet sales have risen from about 20,000 in 2001 to 47,000 last year, according to JD Power and Associates affiliate Power Information Network.
Motor Trend magazine, which often splashes the latest hot rods on its cover, even named Toyota’s hybrid Prius its 2004 Car of the Year, AP said.
“There definitely seems to be a trend of buyers looking for more power, but a successful manufacturer pretty much has to have a wide offering to remain viable,” Weinman told Associated Press.
Daniel Becker, director of the global warming and energy project for the Sierra Club, told the news agency that another trend in the US car industry is also telling — the continued expansion and sales gains of foreign carmakers, particularly Toyota and Honda.
AP noted that the Sierra Club and other environmental groups have been critical of Detroit carmakers in recent years for focusing more on large SUVs and pickups than on hybrid and other “green” technology.
“There will always be a market for the gas-guzzling powerhouse, but the American manufacturer seems to be willing to lose market share as Toyota and Honda bring in better technology,” Becker told Associated Press.
