Higher gas prices drive consumers away from big engines

DETROIT - Lila Frazell wasn't looking for a car with a four-cylinder engine when she started shopping early this year at a Chrysler dealership in Albuquerque, N.M.

The black Sebring midsize sedan on the lot at Quality Jeep-Chrysler had all the options she was looking for, though, including a two-tone beige-and-tan leather interior. "It had everything I wanted, and it had plenty of power," said the 61-year-old paralegal.

Frazell joined an increasing number of U.S. car shoppers picking thriftier small engines in the face of gas prices that continue to hover around $3 per gallon. The percentage of four-cylinder engines in U.S. vehicles still was only 25.4 percent of the U.S. engine mix in 2006, according to data collected by Ward's Automotive Group. Still, in midsize vehicles in which consumers have a choice, the majority has picked four-cylinder engines so far this year in nearly all of the best-selling models.

At DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group, 72 percent of Sebring buyers drove off with four-cylinder engines through May, compared with 53 percent in the previous version of the Sebring, which was phased out last year.

Chrysler, in preparing to launch the new Sebring, looked at government gas price statistics and made last-minute changes in its lineup to offer a four-cylinder engine even in decked-out versions of the vehicle, said Joel Schlader, brand manager for the car.

Four-cylinder engines generally get better gas mileage and pollute less than their larger counterparts, although they often are noisier and don't accelerate as well. In many cases, the sticker price of a four-cylinder car is lower than the V-6 version, sometimes by more than $1,000.

"People thought maybe we were crazy," in putting out more four-cylinder Sebrings, Schlader said. "The demand is clearly there, so if we wouldn't have done that,... I think it's safe to say we might be missing some business."

At Ford Motor Co., where 54 percent of midsize Fusion buyers have bought four-cylinder engines through May, demand for the smaller engines has shifted with gasoline prices since the car was introduced in late 2005, said George Pipas, the company's top sales analyst. Later this year, when gasoline prices are expected to drop, he predicted demand will move back toward six-cylinder engines.

General Motors Corp. saw dramatic increases in four-cylinder sales in two of its most popular midsize models, the Pontiac G6 and Chevrolet Malibu, when comparing 2006 statistics with numbers through May of this year. The increase of around 20 percentage points for each vehicle is partly due to demand and partly because GM was limited in its ability to put four-cylinder engines in the 2006 models, said spokesman John McDonald.

Four-cylinder engine purchases dropped on Toyota Motor Corp.'s Camry from 75 percent in 2006 to 67 percent through May 2007, but that was mainly because the 2007 model added a hybrid gasoline-electric version, said spokesman Mike Michels.

For Toyota and other automakers, computerized six-speed transmissions and other technology advancements have made V-6 engines almost as efficient as fours, according to industry analysts. On the Camry, as an example, the nation's top-selling car, the four-cylinder engine with a manual transmission gets an estimated 34 miles per gallon on the highway, while the six, with a six-speed automatic, can get 31.

On the other hand, said Rebecca Lindland, an auto analyst at Global Insight, an economic research and consulting company, auto makers have improved four-cylinder engines in recent years, making them more powerful and quieter. Many buyers, though, still think the smaller engines are noisy and weak, and so manufacturers must overcome an image problem, she said.

source : news.cincypost.com