Toyota Motor Corp. is looking to improve its fuel economy by spending the next few years making more fuel-efficient gas engines for its cars.
Having mostly relied on hybrid powertrains, the Japanese automaker is behind most car companies that have added fuel injection and turbo charging to their vehicles, according to Dallas Morning News.
Despite the new move, Toyota will still be focusing on its hybrids, and will continue to offer V-6 engines for its Camry sedans.
The company's goal is to increase its fuel economy up to 30 percent, as well as increase cost cuts on important components to 50 percent, Automotive News reported. It will have to save money through common parts in order to spend more money on turbochargers and other fuel-efficient options. Toyota engineers called the turbochargers kanzashi, which are traditionally worn by geisha as ornamental hairpins.
"We would like to achieve No. 1 performance in fuel economy and cost for all the engines that we will be developing," said Koel Saga, senior managing officer in charge of powertrain development at Toyota. "We are spending more time concentrating on improving the basic performance of engines. That means we can maintain leadership in the market for a long time."
Toyota plans to introduce 14 engines through 2015 that will be used in 30 percent of the company's global brands. The first was introduced in April in the Japanese hatchback Toyota Passo and includes stop-start technology, providing 30 percent better fuel economy than the current engine. The next-generation Prius Hybrid, which will be available at the end of 2015, and the next-generation Camry, to be released around 2016, are among the other vehicles that will get the new engines, Automotive News reported.
In order to cut costs and improve performance, the automaker is looking to update the stroke, valve time, bore, combustion cycle and other basic parts of its engines, and then update engine blocks, cam-shafts, crankshafts, cylinder heads and other components. Afterwards, the company will focus on the fuel-efficient components, such as direct fuel injection, stop-start technology and exhaust gas recirculation systems.
"First, we have to improve the performance of the base engine itself, then on top of that we will be utilizing kanzashi on occasion demands," Saga said. "Just like putting something beautiful on top of your hairdo, by using kanzashi through such things as turbocharging or downsizing, you can improve the performance of the engine."
