(May 9, 2012) LONDON — Engine downsizing, which has been a major trend in European diesel engines over the past decade, is poised to have a major impact on gasoline engines, which will witness the trend that diesel engines did in terms of engine downsizing and turbocharging 10 years ago. This trend will also have a positive impact on the demand for technologies supporting downsizing such as turbochargers and variable valvetrain.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, 2011 Original Equipment Manufacturers Strategies for Passenger Vehicle Engine Downsizing in Western Europe, finds that suppliers with complete powertrain development and benchmarking capabilities will gain significance.

"Due to comparatively lower CO2 emissions, diesel engines will not face a challenge in complying with CO2 limits; hence, the limitations in downsizing diesel engines will not be an issue," notes Frost & Sullivan Senior Research Analyst Bharath Kumar Srinivasan.

The number of cylinders in gasoline engines is likely to decrease only for engines below 1.2 liters. About 35-38 percent of gasoline engines are likely to be turbocharged by 2018. This high level of turbocharging by European OEMs is likely to help in the market growth of boosting technologies.

Legal regulations and end-consumer environmental awareness will motivate the sales of vehicles with small engines. For example, the car scrappage programs in 2009 reduced the average displacement of engines in Western Europe. Such initiatives will help boost engine downsizing.

The addition of supporting technologies such as turbochargers and variable valvetrain technologies are expected to drive costs and this is likely to impact take-up rates in cost-sensitive segments.

Downsizing engines results in lower torque output from the engine and, hence, lower transient response. Variable geometry turbocharging (VGT) is a good solution for better torque output, however, introducing VGT at a low cost for gasoline engines will be a challenge.