In the name of better fuel-economy, Volvo has announced a switch in Volvo parts. Up until now, the automaker has equipped its vehicles with predominantly six- and eight-cylinder engines. Starting in 2013, however, Volvo will replace these large powerhouses with smaller, more efficient ones.

A good move on the part of Volvo?  Lovering Volvo in Meredith certainly believes so. In fact, the push towards smaller engines isn't that uncommon. Many automakers are switching out eights for sixes and sixes for fours. What sets Volvo apart is its no-holds-back dedication to change. Under a larger effort called Volvo Environmental Architecture (VEA), three- and four-cylinder engines will soon come standard across all new Volvo models. Moreover, according to the head of Research and Development, Peter Mertens, the new engines will show "higher performance than today's six-cylinder units and lower fuel consumption than the current four-cylinder generation."¹

The VEA engine isn't the only new initiative to be recently set in place. Volvo has also developed a new scalable platform architecture (SPA) which will enable 80-percent of vehicle production to occur on the same assembly line. With the help of these two efforts, the automaker plans on doubling yearly car sales to $800,000 by the year 2020.

"We're taking our technological future into our own hands. Both our new architecture and the new engine range will enable us to be on par or even beat our toughest competitors in crucial areas such as driving dynamics and fuel economy,"¹ says Merten.

While the first model to get a VEA engine is unconfirmed as of now, Lovering Volvo in Meredith has good reason to believe that we just may see both initiatives in place for a revamped variant of the Volvo S80.  As more details regarding the switch emerge, we promise you'll be the first to know. For the time being, feel free to contact us online with any questions you may have right now. Or, if you'd prefer, come talk with us in person at 251 Daniel Webster Highway Meredith, NH 03253.

Source: ¹http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110917/ANE/110919865/1494