GM Announces New Ecotec Small Engine Family

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GM’s Ecotec engines have been around since 2000 or so, and have been used to power everything from the Chevy Cavalier through the 2011 Saab 9-5. Currently available in displacements ranging from 1.4 liters (as used in the 2011 Chevy Cruze and upcoming 2012 Chevy Sonic) through 2.4 liters (as used in the 2012 Chevy Malibu and 2012 GMC Terrain, among others) the Ecotec family accounts for a significant portion of GM’s current engine production.

Since downsizing engines for improved fuel efficiency and lower emissions is the easiest way for manufacturers to comply with ever-tightening regulations, GM has announced an all-new global family of Ecotec engines, set to begin production in mid-decade. While the new Ecotec engines will feature performance-and-gas-mileage-boosting-technology such as gasoline direct injection, turbocharging and multi-fuel capability, they’ll also be quite a bit smaller than today’s Ecotec engines.

Displacements will range from 1.0 liter to 1.5 liters, and GM envisions production of over 2 million engines a year by the end of the decade. To reduce production costs and simplify global assembly, the engines will use a modular approach with interchangeable components.

GM isn’t saying where the new engines will be used, only that the engines will span “multiple vehicle architectures in various regions.” 

GM’s Jim Federico, vehicle line executive for global small cars and electric vehicles, summed up the need for the new engines by saying, “We are working aggressively on vehicle electrification and other technologies, but the most immediate progress will come from continually improving the internal combustion engine.”

The new Ecotec engines will be developed jointly between GM, the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. (SAIC), Shanghai General Motors and the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center.

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Report: In Small Cars And EVs, Smaller Tires Could Save Fuel

With signs that minicars might finally be taking off in the U.S.—signaled by the arrival of models like the Fiat 500, Ford Fiesta, Scion iQ, and a host of potential ones—it could be time to give smaller wheels a new chance.

Why? Because, Motor Trend reports, a new generation of higher-quality ten-inch tires are here. Michelin has produced a new 175/70R10 tire, specifically for city cars, that weighs about three pounds less than a 175/65R14 tire.

Twelve pounds and some rolling resistance might not sound so significant, but it is. According to Michelin, MT reports, the new smaller tires might be especially of use on new urban electric vehicles, where the use of tires designed for larger vehicles with internal combustion engines could account for 30 to 40 percent of overall energy consumption. Reducing that means greater range—which is especially important right now, on the cusp of EV adoption.

Tires, even on the smallest, entry-market vehicles, have become larger in recent years. In the 1980s, the mainstream tire size was the 14-incher; then in the 1990s, 15- and 16-inch sizes became increasingly common on affordable vehicles. Sidewalls continued to get even shorter and this past decade gave way to low-profile, large-diameter chromed insanity in the way of 20-inch wheels and beyond.

Designers have for well over a decade now penned vehicles with increasingly large wheels and wheel wells, so eventually, smaller, less exaggerated wheels might come back in style. It could certainly bring some packaging advantages, as huge wheels require large wheel wells that eat up trunk or cabin space.

The downside of these big rollers—aside from their sometimes harsh ride quality—is that they add weight and raw materials, and sometimes actually increase rolling resistance. And that definitely factors into gas mileage.

At the same time, on bigger, heavier vehicles it might not pay to downsize if you don't change the compound, as smaller-diameter wheels and tires typically do have more rolling resistance. One Michelin design, a 205/55R19 wheel, is measurably more efficient than existing 205/55R16 designs.

What's the message to take away? Don't take the impractical 22s you might be rolling on as the look of the future, and be prepared to see some smaller (or skinnier) wheels on next-generation fuel-savers.

[Motor Trend]

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Inside the Bull’s Pen: A Small Glimpse at F1’s Red Bull Racing Operation

Understanding the family connection between Infiniti, Nissan’s luxury car brand, and Formula 1’s Red Bull Racing is easy, really.

Here’s how the story goes: Red Bull’s 2010 championship winning racecars driven by young superstar and reigning F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel and veteran Mark Webber are powered by custom 650-plus horsepower 2.4-liter Renault Sport F1 RS27 engines. In the road car world, Renault and Nissan are like peanut butter and jelly. Since 1999, they’ve often shared platforms, engines, and future tech as part of the Renault-Nissan Alliance.

So when Nissan recently needed a globally renowned outlet from which it could spread the word about Infiniti – especially in Europe where it is just now getting a foothold — it quickly devised a plan to badge the reigning championship cars and driver’s suits with giant Infiniti logos.

It is this cleaver multi-year marketing tie-up that recently brought me to a quiet industrial park near Milton Keynes, England. The town serves as the home base to RBR and is the sole spot where the team’s innovative technology is cultivated, not to mention guarded with the utmost seriousness and secrecy. Considering the competitive lot that includes juggernauts Scuderia Ferrari and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, this should be no surprise. The three are some of the wealthiest and cutthroat teams in all of motorsport.

Merely walking into RBR’s front reception area, I got an immediate feeling of secrecy, cleanliness, and technological richness. (A recent Independent report emanating from Europe estimated Red Bull spends close to $300 million per year on its two Formula 1 teams, RBR and Scuderia Toro Rosso.) I liken the headquarters to those of NASA; our small group was required to have a legitimate reason to enter the compound and was asked not to not snap photos unless instructed to at designated areas. Top secret is the norm.

Just past the reception area’s elaborately lit race and championship trophy section is the building’s main floor, where 180 young designers sit in large low-walled cubicles. Each Dell flat screen displayed a 3D CAD part image. Minus the French heart, every component on the RB7 racecars — from titanium bolts to carbon fiber gearbox — is developed and created at the U.K. facility and the team’s sister company (which is right across Bradbourne Drive), Red Bull Technology.

The company hires most of its designers and engineers straight from the world’s top university programs. Not only do they call different countries home, some also arrive from the yachting, aerospace, and automotive industries, so specialties are highly diverse but remain closely related. There are also craftsmen, fabricators, carbon fiber/advanced material specialists, race engineers, strategists, and a group of administrative, marketing, and public relations executives that makeup the 560-strong team located at Milton Keynes.

Continuing past the outer-ring offices of chief technical officer, Adrian Newey, and team principal, Christian Horner, we arrive at RBR’s secured race center. The approximate 20-foot by 20-foot room has space for at least 16 engineers seated at individual desks. The desks are tiered in a stadium-seating sort of way, with the first row being the lowest. Again, thoughts of NASA’s Houston launch control come to mind, or better yet, a complex war room where all-out battles are directed.

On the wall ahead of the desks hang four giant flat screen TVs. According to RBR, they are a key element in the three lines of defense applied during a race. The first line is the pit lane engineering team, usually seated at a small enclosed box directly in front of the garage. Next are the back-of-garage engineers that monitor the car’s vital signs. Last is the aforementioned race center group in England connected live to engineers at the race via telephone and the four TV screens.

From these monitors engineers closely watch their cars and those of the competition. They analyze the live video feeds to determine competitors’ racing setups. From spring rates and suspension calibrations, to gearing and fuel load, RBR can make an educated guess as to what their top challengers are doing.

Strategists then plot the best time to schedule their 3-second pit stops and relay all information down to the pitlane. It is an amazing orchestration of analytics, guesswork, and technology that up until my visit, I had never truly appreciated or understood.

Downstairs from race control are massive aerospace-grade wind tunnels, autoclaves, and five-axis milling stations. The mills create part molds for wind tunnel testing by precisely etching materials by laser. RBR’s engineers share many fabrication techniques and technology with the military and space industries. One production process, for instance, creates lightweight metals and plastics from high-tech powders. Yes, powders. On my way towards the break room exit I caught a sight of the carbon fiber clean room/laboratory where parts are hand-built by associates donning long white coats.

Apart from the sophistication and sheer wealth of the Red Bull Racing operation, I walked away taken aback by every employee’s apparent love for motorsport and the ultimate prize — winning. Each is dedicated to providing Seb and Mark (that’s what I call them now) with the fastest open-wheel machines on the planet, no matter how unrelated or closely aligned their workday tasks may be.

I asked a few of the many engineers, designers, and administrators about the successful run they’ve had this season. Each told me they could not wait for their drivers to bring home the 2011 driver’s and constructor’s championships. In their minds, it isn’t if they’ll clinch the championships, it’s when. And after getting an intimate feel of what it takes to go from spiffy energy drink cans to Formula 1 kings, I have to agree.

Special thanks to Nissan North America, Infiniti, and Red Bull Racing for arranging my visit.

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Exec: Ford gunning for big growth in Asia’s small car segment

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Muller on Saab’s Production Interruption: “This is like a small Fukushima”

Saab brought its 9-3-based Phoenix concept from the Geneva show, though that wasn’t the company’s big story at the International Auto Show here, of course. The story was Victor Muller, who came to the show to talk up Saab’s survival plan following a three-week production gap that had everybody else in the business giving up the Swedish brand for dead.

“This is like a small Fukushima,” he said after the press conference. “You start out with a small problem and it gets bigger.”

“We’re basically awaiting the European (Central) Bank’s approval where we carve out the real estate from the collateral, from the (Swedish) National Debt Office,” Muller said. He emphasized that Saab has lowered its request for a Central Bank loan from 400 million euro ($583 million) “which we’re reducing to 280 million euro” ($408 million).

The plan is to have controversial Russian investor Vladimir Antonov, a past investor in Spyker, buy Saab property, including its factory, and lease it back to Saab in order to improve the automaker’s cashflow. Muller announced just before the Geneva show in March that Antonov would purchase Spyker assets, leaving Saab as the sole brand at the company. Shortly after that, Antonov in an interview disputed Saab’s claim it could sell 80,000 cars globally in this, its second year of independence.

Antonov figured Saab would sell 60,000 to 65,000 cars this year, enough of a difference to scare banks otherwise willing to give the company a line of credit. Muller issued a release immediately after Antonov’s comments were published, sticking with Saab’s estimate of 80,000.

Antonov’s comments were part of that “small Fukushima,” second in a series of events that may, ironically, hurt Saab’s chances of reaching 80,000.

Does Muller still believe Saab can sell 80,000 this year?

“We will have to see about that,” he said. Saab hasn’t had time to assess how much the three-week production loss will affect the annual number.

Here’s how Muller described the “small Fukushima,” a “number of events” that “rocked the boat”:

*Saab’s annual report revealed results that were better than Muller had expected, but apparently weren’t good enough for outside investors, he said.

*This was followed by the Antonov interview, in which he said Saab will sell 60,000 to 65,000 vehicles this year, not the 80,000 that Muller has said will allow the company to break even in its second year.

*Jan Ake Jonsson retired from Saab after 40 years. Muller described this as solely Jonsson’s decision. “The man is 60, he’s worked through hell to get this company where it is today.” The work had taken its toll, Muller says, and Jonsson had to resign to “save” himself.

*Saab announced it had hired Nils-Johan Andersson from Lindlab to be its new chief financial officer. A few days later, Andersson returned to Lindlab. Muller said outsiders figured Andersson knew something about Saab’s finances he didn’t like, thus the return, but Andersson simply got talked into staying at his old job.

*Saab then had a conflict with a trucking company which “decided not to unload” parts because the company wanted to make a payment arrangement with which Saab did not agree.

“We have a two-hour stoppage at the factory,” Muller said. “This happens all the time” at all automakers, “but because this was Sweden, the genie is out of the bottle. Within a matter of hours, all the suppliers were stopping deliveries.”

The ever-optimistic Muller said the three-week stoppage has had no effect on product development. An all-new 9-3 is still on schedule for a 2012 launch, he said. The 9-4x crossover, built at GM’s Ramos Arizpe, Mexico plant alongside the Cadillac SRX, will begin deliveries in May and the 9-5 SportCombi goes on sale this September.

Saab’s 9-3 Independence cabrio, a special trim package on the outgoing car, is available now and the 9-3 Griffin sedan and SportCombi will be available in a couple of months. That trim level, with cloth seats and lower content, is selling in Europe for a base price of 19,000 euro, though Saab’s North American operations has not released pricing on our version.

Will this work? Smart money says Saab under Muller and Spyker has been underfunded from the get-go. The dealers desperately need product, and they must convince even the most loyal of Saab buyers that there’ll be a company through the decade to fulfill warranty, parts and service. Sweden’s other automaker, Volvo, has new, well-heeled Chinese owners with much incentive to move some production to that much cheaper location.

It’s impossible to dismiss Victor Muller’s drive and optimism, and his love for cars. It’s also impossible to dismiss the probability that the production interruption will become a self-fulfilling prophecy, and make Saab miss its 80,000-unit sales goal to financially break even. In the auto business, that’s a business plan that won’t work for long.

View the original article here

Muller on Saab’s Production Interruption: “This is like a small Fukushima”

Saab brought its 9-3-based Phoenix concept from the Geneva show, though that wasn’t the company’s big story at the International Auto Show here, of course. The story was Victor Muller, who came to the show to talk up Saab’s survival plan following a three-week production gap that had everybody else in the business giving up the Swedish brand for dead.

“This is like a small Fukushima,” he said after the press conference. “You start out with a small problem and it gets bigger.”

“We’re basically awaiting the European (Central) Bank’s approval where we carve out the real estate from the collateral, from the (Swedish) National Debt Office,” Muller said. He emphasized that Saab has lowered its request for a Central Bank loan from 400 million euro ($583 million) “which we’re reducing to 280 million euro” ($408 million).

The plan is to have controversial Russian investor Vladimir Antonov, a past investor in Spyker, buy Saab property, including its factory, and lease it back to Saab in order to improve the automaker’s cashflow. Muller announced just before the Geneva show in March that Antonov would purchase Spyker assets, leaving Saab as the sole brand at the company. Shortly after that, Antonov in an interview disputed Saab’s claim it could sell 80,000 cars globally in this, its second year of independence.

Antonov figured Saab would sell 60,000 to 65,000 cars this year, enough of a difference to scare banks otherwise willing to give the company a line of credit. Muller issued a release immediately after Antonov’s comments were published, sticking with Saab’s estimate of 80,000.

Antonov’s comments were part of that “small Fukushima,” second in a series of events that may, ironically, hurt Saab’s chances of reaching 80,000.

Does Muller still believe Saab can sell 80,000 this year?

“We will have to see about that,” he said. Saab hasn’t had time to assess how much the three-week production loss will affect the annual number.

Here’s how Muller described the “small Fukushima,” a “number of events” that “rocked the boat”:

*Saab’s annual report revealed results that were better than Muller had expected, but apparently weren’t good enough for outside investors, he said.

*This was followed by the Antonov interview, in which he said Saab will sell 60,000 to 65,000 vehicles this year, not the 80,000 that Muller has said will allow the company to break even in its second year.

*Jan Ake Jonsson retired from Saab after 40 years. Muller described this as solely Jonsson’s decision. “The man is 60, he’s worked through hell to get this company where it is today.” The work had taken its toll, Muller says, and Jonsson had to resign to “save” himself.

*Saab announced it had hired Nils-Johan Andersson from Lindlab to be its new chief financial officer. A few days later, Andersson returned to Lindlab. Muller said outsiders figured Andersson knew something about Saab’s finances he didn’t like, thus the return, but Andersson simply got talked into staying at his old job.

*Saab then had a conflict with a trucking company which “decided not to unload” parts because the company wanted to make a payment arrangement with which Saab did not agree.

“We have a two-hour stoppage at the factory,” Muller said. “This happens all the time” at all automakers, “but because this was Sweden, the genie is out of the bottle. Within a matter of hours, all the suppliers were stopping deliveries.”

The ever-optimistic Muller said the three-week stoppage has had no effect on product development. An all-new 9-3 is still on schedule for a 2012 launch, he said. The 9-4x crossover, built at GM’s Ramos Arizpe, Mexico plant alongside the Cadillac SRX, will begin deliveries in May and the 9-5 SportCombi goes on sale this September.

Saab’s 9-3 Independence cabrio, a special trim package on the outgoing car, is available now and the 9-3 Griffin sedan and SportCombi will be available in a couple of months. That trim level, with cloth seats and lower content, is selling in Europe for a base price of 19,000 euro, though Saab’s North American operations has not released pricing on our version.

Will this work? Smart money says Saab under Muller and Spyker has been underfunded from the get-go. The dealers desperately need product, and they must convince even the most loyal of Saab buyers that there’ll be a company through the decade to fulfill warranty, parts and service. Sweden’s other automaker, Volvo, has new, well-heeled Chinese owners with much incentive to move some production to that much cheaper location.

It’s impossible to dismiss Victor Muller’s drive and optimism, and his love for cars. It’s also impossible to dismiss the probability that the production interruption will become a self-fulfilling prophecy, and make Saab miss its 80,000-unit sales goal to financially break even. In the auto business, that’s a business plan that won’t work for long.

View the original article here