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GM Sees Turbo Engine-Equipped Vehicle Sales Soar, Shows No Signs of Slowing Turbocharging Efforts

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GMC brought its full lineup of vehicles to the 2017 Chicago Auto Show, including the 2018 GMC Terrain

General Motors is leading the charge to turbocharge.

According to Automotive News, GM’s persistence in making turbocharged engine options available for a number of offerings in its lineup has resulted in a significant uptick in the percentage of vehicles sold with turbo engines. Where vehicles with turbo engines accounted for about 5% of all GM sales in 2010 and under 12% in 2011, Buick, GMC, Chevrolet, and Cadillac vehicles equipped with turbocharged engines accounted for about 49% of all GM sales in 2016 at approximately 712,000 vehicles.


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The trend of turbocharging is likely to only increase into 2017 and beyond as vehicles like the upcoming 2018 GMC Terrain and Chevy Equinox are leaning on engine lineups that consist only of turbocharged options.

“Turbocharging is really an important technology,” Dan Nicholson, GM vice president of global propulsion systems, told Automotive News. “It’s enabling smaller, really smaller engines, without sacrificing peak power or peak torque.”

Nearly half of GM’s 2018 model-year lineup will be offered with at least one turbocharged engine option, and Auto News notes that the potential for adding turbocharged engines for full-size SUVs and full-size pickup trucks in the future should prove tempting. Nicholson confirmed that GM’s strategy is not to roll out turbocharged engines en masse, but rather “segment by segment.”

With regards to its efforts to improve the fuel efficiency of vehicles by adding turbocharged options, Nicholson says that there is only one direction GM is moving: forward.

“We’re never going backwards,” he added. “It’s only a matter of how fast we can move forward in improving fuel economy.”


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News Source: Automotive News (subscription required)