Toyota Launches Huge Effort to Cut Engine Costs

Toyota Motor Corp. thinks it can reduce engine component costs as much as 50% by sharing common parts across multiple engines.

The company tells Automotive News it will invest the savings in turbocharging and direct gasoline injection to improve the fuel economy of its piston engines by as much as 30%.

Toyota is applying the approach to 14 engines it will roll out through 2015. The first of the powerplants a 1.0-liter unit with automatic stop-start debuted in April in the Passo mini-hatch sold in Japan.

Koei Saga, who heads Toyota's powertrain development, says the new engines will feature standardized blocks, cylinder heads, camshafts and crankshafts. Base engines will feature revised intake ports, higher compression ratios, variable valve timing and the expansion of Atkinson cycle lean-burn technology beyond hybrids to standard piston-powered cars.

The goal is to improve the efficiency of the base design, then add turbocharging and other features as needed for performance, according to Saga. He says a company goal is to make each of the next-generation engines a segment leader in high fuel efficiency and low production cost.

Toyota's belated effort lags programs by rivals to phase in next-generation engines needed to meet future fuel economy standards in the U.S. and elsewhere.

AN cites U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data showing that Toyota's fleet average fuel economy slipped to 25.2 mpg last year from 25.4 mpg in 2010. Over the same period, Nissan's average climbed from 23.3 mpg to 24.6 mpg. Mazda's average jumped from 24.4 mpg to 27.5 mpg.