Honda Wary of Building V8, Chief Engineer Says
By: Norihiko Shirouzu, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
LOS ANGELES -- A senior Honda Motor Co . executive said the No. 2 Japanese auto maker likely won't build a V8 engine unless it could improve the engine's fuel economy and emissions beyond the industry's norm.
He said one way to address the lack of V8 powertrain options in Honda vehicles may be to create a propulsion system that combines a V6 engine with an electric motor to offer V8-like power.
Tomoyuki Sugiyama, an executive chief engineer of Honda's research arm in Japan , said in an interview here that Honda remains apprehensive about making a V8 engine if it is the kind that guzzles gas.
Some Honda dealers have been asking Honda to offer V8 engines, but the company has insisted that its sales of full-size vehicles aren't large enough to justify a new family of big engines. Other dealers also want Honda to build pickup trucks, a move that could justify developing a V8 engine. Honda admits it has " studied" the possibility of developing pickup trucks, but Yuzuru Matsuno, a Honda spokesman in Detroit , said the auto maker hasn't made a final decision on the possibility. Honda isn't likely to enter the pickup-truck market any time soon, he added.
Mr. Sugiyama said that as a corporate strategy, Honda "tries to put a higher priority on safety and environmental friendliness" over sheer power. "We won't likely develop V8 engines unless we can come up with a technical solution to their fuel economy and emissions" and make them a standout in the industry.
One solution the company is considering, Mr. Sugiyama said, is to try to create a V6 engine that can put out V8-like power, instead of trying to develop a cleaner and more economical V8 powertrain.
"That's one direction we could take," he said.
-Norihiko Shirouzu, The Wall Street Journal; 313-510-5886
