Volvo has officially confirmed that its future vehicles will have no more than four-cylinders. The Swedish automaker hinted earlier this year that it was considering abandon its current five- and six-cylinder powerplants in the name of fuel efficiency.
Volvo has already axed its V8 engine, with its five- and six-cylinder engines the next to face the chopping block. Volvo says it will complete the shift to three- and four-cylinder engines within 10 years.
“Before the end of the decade, all Volvo models will have engines with no more than four cylinders,” Volvo r&d boss Peter Mertens told Automotive News Europe.
Volvo says the move is the direct result of more stringent fuel economy regulations in the United States and Europe.
Volvo’s future three- and four-cylinder engine will be based on the company’s new Volvo Environmental Architecture (VEA) engine architecture. Volvo’s first VEA-based engine is expected to launch in 2013 in one of the automaker’s current offerings.
Volvo’s VEA engine lineup will eventually include three-cylinder gas and diesel engines displacing 1.5L and a 2.0L four-cylinder that will also be available as gas or diesel. Despite a decrease in overall size, Volvo says the engines will hold the line on current performance figures.
“We will develop four-cylinder engines with higher performance than today’s six-cylinder units and lower fuel consumption than the current four-cylinder generation,” Mertens said.
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