INDUSTRY NEWS
Fuel tests lead to reverse in downsizing trend
Volkswagen cancels downsizing push, moves to reality-based emissions claims, writes Michael Taylor
The age of shrinking engines, or downsizing, is over. At least, it is over at the Volkswagen Group. While VW has long used three-cylinder motors in its small cars, it has now declared that it will no longer shrink its engines for theoretical fuel-economy benefits. "We stopped this at Volkswagen," the German car maker’s development head, Frank Welsch, insists. "What we have reached now, this is fine. There is not heavy downsizing anymore. Some are calling it rightsizing, but that’s not really right, either. "We will not go lower than 1.0l in a three-cylinder or below 1.5 in a four. The Polo will go to a small four-cylinder engine."
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