turbocharged engines sold worldwide is expected to grow from 17 million new vehicles annually to 35 million by 2015, say the folks at Honeywell. You’d expect Honeywell to be bullish about technology it manufactures, but it based those findings on data from analysts at IHS Global Insight, J.D. Power & Associates and so forth.

The growth makes sense, given tightening fuel economy and emissions regulations. Among the best ways to do more with less is build a smaller engine and turbocharge it to improve performance. Honeywell says a turbo can boost the fuel efficiency of a gasoline engine 20 percent and a diesel 40 percent — and they’re a lot cheaper than an electric or hybrid drivetrain.

“Despite the buzz around hybrid and electric vehicles, it is clear that automakers will be looking primarily at turbocharged engines to help ‘green’ their fleets and meet the regulatory targets like CAFE in the U.S.,” Alex Ismail, president and CEO of Honeywell Transportation System, said.

Honeywell says the turbo segment in the United States will grow from one million new vehicles to more than four million in 2015. That’s no small potatoes considering consumers bought 9.4 million new cars last year and 12.8 million in 2008. In China, where consumers bought 17.3 million cars last year, the figure will grow from 10 percent of the market to 20 percent.

Those figures are for passenger vehicles, by the way. Honeywell expects the turbocharged commercial vehicle engine segment to grow from 3.5 million engines to six million in 2015.

Photo: Volkswagen. The Volkswagen Polo uses a turbo to squeeze 105 horsepower from a 1.2-liter TSI engine.

Authors: Chuck Squatriglia

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