Turbocharging is likely to be all the range in the next few years as automakers try to improve the mileage of high volume vehicles with downsized engines. Ford has already announced big plans for its EcoBoost engines starting with the 3.5L V6 that launches next spring. Across town at GM, the upcoming Chevy Cruze will get a new 1.4L turbocharged and direct injected engine. Ford will buying turbos from Honeywell for the EcoBoost engines and the supplier is apparently also talking to GM about a supply. Turbocharged engines currently account for about 6 percent of U.S. vehicle sales, split between gas and diesel engines. Honeywell Transportation Systems CEO Adriane Brown expects that share to jump to 15-20 percent of new vehicle sales over the next five years. It seems likely that GM and others will add additional turbocharged gas engine applications over the coming years as an interim step until electrically-driven vehicles become more affordable.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

Ford is planning to make a huge push for turbocharged engines starting in April 2009 with the introduction of the first in its line of EcoBoost engines. Honeywell Turbo Technologies will be supplying Ford with turbochargers for the 3.5L V6 and the followup four cylinder EcoBoost engines. Honeywell is estimating that turbocharged engines will go from 30 percent of global vehicle installations to 38 percent over the next five years. Ford and other manufacturers are adding direct injection and turbocharging to smaller displacement engines to allow them to be substituted for larger engines in a variety applications. The 3.5L EcoBoost V6 will be used in place of larger V8s in a vehicles ranging from the Ford Flex and Lincoln MKS to the F-150. Smaller cars like the Fusion will use a 4 cylinder EcoBoost engine where they would have used a V6 before. Honeywell is not the only manufacturer to be banking on turbos. In recent months Continental and Bosch have both announced plans to start manufacturing turbochargers.

[Source: Ford]

Automotive supplier Bosch is now set to follow arch-rival Continental Automotive systems into the field producing turbochargers. Robert Bosch GmbH has received German regulatory approval to team up with MAHLE GmbH in a 50-50 joint venture called Bosch Mahle Turbo Systems GmbH & Co. KG. The new company will start operating on June 2 out of offices in Stuttgart. About 50 employees from each company will move over to the new company.

Bosch MAHLE Turbo systems is looking to take advantage of the move to downsized engines with turbochargers. By using smaller engines, automakers can achieve weight reductions and reduced fuel consumption while still providing increased power when it's needed. Bosch MAHLE plans to start production of turbochargers at plants in St. Michael ob Bleiburg, Austria, and Blaichach/Immenstadt, Germany in 2011.

[Source: Bosch Mahle]

Car makers the world over are looking for the most cost effective ways to increase fuel economy as fuel prices continue to climb and CO₂ limits and fuel economy standards come into force. One approach that seems to be appealing to most is adding direct fuel injection and turbocharging to smaller displacement engines. Continental Automotive Systems sees the trend and is jumping on the bandwagon. Continental has announced their intention to build their first turbocharger plant for production begining in 2011. The initial production run will be for 2.0L four cylinder engines at the rate of 100,000 per year. No location has been announced for the plant, but somewhere in Eastern Europe seems probable. Volkswagen is also rumored to be the first customer for Conti's turbos.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

With internal combustion engines set to continue playing a major role in automotive drivetrains for some time to come, technologies that can help improve efficiency are growing in demand. Two of the most popular at the moment are turbochargers and dual clutch transmissions (DCT). Both are seen as means to achieve significant improvements in efficiency at much lower cost than alternatives like hybrids. One of the chief suppliers of both of these components is BorgWarner.

BorgWarner has been the supplier of DSG transmissions to Volkswagen, which just recently passed the one million installation mark. With Ford set to produce upwards of 500,000 turbocharged direct injection engines annually within the next few years and many manufacturers looking to follow a similar path BorgWarner is well positioned to benefit from the shift. The company expects revenues to rise by 10 percent this year in spite of falling U.S. sales.

[Source: Detroit Free Press]