(August 17, 2013) ROCKLEIGH, N.J. — With the introduction of its new, innovative engine family, Volvo Cars ushers in a wave of transformational change. Its Drive-E powertrains are developed in-house at Volvo's R&D department in Sweden — targeting best-in-class combined fuel economy in some engine versions — and signal an important part of the company's strategy for advancement.

Significant investments in preparation for the new engine family were made in Sweden. Overall, an $11 billion, multi-year push including engine development, Volvo's future Scalable Product Architecture, and other infrastructure and facilities upgrades is directly aimed at transforming Volvo's future toward increased competitiveness and technological independence.

"The launch of our new Drive-E powertrains is an important step in Volvo's product investment plan that will result in a stronger, more competitive position in the marketplace," said Volvo Cars of North America President and CEO John Maloney. "A great deal of research went into learning how our customers drive and these highly efficient, low-emission engines were designed to provide greater customer choice while retaining the performance attributes our customers expect."

Drive-E is also Volvo's name for all innovations made to reduce the impact on the environment. The moniker encompasses everything from a sustainable, efficient and clean manufacturing process, along with the use of recyclable materials, to efficient and low-emission powertrains —- without compromising performance.

Drive-E powertrains efficiently deliver what was once only thought possible with six or eight cylinders. Those possibilities further expand when the new engines are teamed with electrification, producing vehicles, such as plug-in hybrids with outstanding range.

"We have created smaller, more intelligent engines with power curves that give exciting drivability compared with engines with more cylinders, yet deliver the fuel economy of only four cylinders. In addition, by adding electrification such as plug-in hybrid technology, we will reach power figures in the V8 territory," said Derek Crabb, vice president Powertrain Engineering at Volvo Car Group.

The smaller, lighter engines-by nearly 100 pounds on the higher performance engine — also offer considerably lower emissions and higher fuel economy savings — ranging from 13 to 26 percent depending on the engine to which they are compared. Specific fuel economy numbers will become available shortly before cars with Drive-E powertrains reach retail outlets early next year.

Globally, the complete Drive-E engine range, formerly called Volvo Engine Architecture (VEA) during its development, consists of two four-cylinder engines, one common rail diesel and one direct-injected gasoline version. They replace eight engine architectures on three platforms. Both the diesel and the gasoline versions share the same architecture.

Two levels of forced induction open up the flexibility to cover the whole range, from fuel-efficient derivatives to high-power and torque variants. In order to meet customer requirements, some engines will also gain added performance via electrification or other spearhead technology.

Two gasoline Drive-E engines will be offered in the United States, a 240-horsepower version and a higher performance 302-horsepower version. In the United States, Volvo will continue to offer its current lineup of AWD powertrains, along with Drive-E. As a result, U.S. customers can choose between the new engines and some current engines until Volvo transitions solely to Drive-E.