Volvo Moving All Vehicles to Four Cylinders or Fewer Over Next Decade

Auto News Europe reports that Volvo plans to move away from five- and six-cylinder engines over the next decade to cope with stricter emissions standards worldwide.

“Before the end of the decade, all Volvo models will have engines with no more than four cylinders,” said Volvo R&D boss Peter Mertens.

Volvo is already developing a range of three- and four-cylinder engines that will begin to be implemented in 2013. Right now these engines include petrol and diesel versions of a 1.5 liter, three-cylinder engine and petrol and diesel versions of a 2.0 liter, four-cylinder engine. Volvo claims that these engines will have higher performance and better efficiency than its current six-cylinder engines.

Another key to Volvo's future is its scalable platform architecture, SPA, that will allow 80% of its vehicles to be built on the same production line regardless of the vehicle's size. The Concept You and Concept Universe used this architecture, and the first production car to use it will be Volvo's replacement for the S80 that will probably come sometime in 2014.

At least partially motivated by Volvo's ownership by Chinese automaker Geeley, It plans to put more focus on the Chinese market in the future.

Source: Auto News Europe