Six-Cylinder Sales Slip

Global sales for six-cylinder vehicles have been dropping steadily. Whatever the reasons car buyers have for shying away from bigger engines, the fact remains that six-cylinders are down and four-cylinder engines are up. Subaru has never been one to idly sit by. The company keeps up with consumers and keeps their interests and concerns in mind in order to make informed decisions. While there hasn’t been any official word, many are wondering if Subaru will shy away from six-cylinder engines and focus more on four.

Subaru engineer Yoichi Hori recently commented on the declining interest for vehicles equipped with six-cylinder engines. He said that research suggests companies will start to move away from these engines that are losing popularity and will instead focus their efforts on four-cylinder engines. He says that engines with smaller displacement combined with a turbocharger can easily achieve the same power as a six-cylinder engine. 

If a car manufacturer focused on a single engine size, the whole manufacturing process would be streamlined, and much more efficient. Customers who want more power under the hood could shell out the extra money for turbo. However, there is a pretty big disadvantage to a four-cylinder turbo engine compared to a six-cylinder engine.  While the horsepower would be comparable, the type of maintenance and cost of maintenance would not. 

A turbo charger means higher performance, but it also means higher maintenance. Simple upkeep such as changing the oil is significantly more expensive on an engine with a turbocharger than it is on one without, regardless of the number of cylinders.

 Subaru hasn't said that they are going to do away with six-cylinder engine vehicles, but the company is definitely monitoring consumer interest. If sales keep dropping on vehicles with larger engines, it may become impractical or just too expensive to produce them. Assuming that Subaru doesn't make any vehicles larger than the ones currently being produced, four-cylinder and turbocharged four-cylinder options would be more than adequate for the entire line.