Automobiles with four-cylinder engines already comprise more than half of U.S. new-vehicle sales, and that number could grow to two-thirds by the end of the decade, according to projections by Ford Motor Co.
The shift to the smaller engines is a result of strict federal fuel-efficiency standards — known as Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE — and means a growing share of cars, SUVs and trucks will join the four-cylinder fray by 2020.
Ford's estimates are high by some analysts' accounts, but it's not the first time Ford has gone its own way when it comes to powertrains.
"I think it's maybe a stretch. But I don't find it implausible," said Bill Visnic, senior editor at the car research site Edmunds.com, in a telephone interview. "If you look at where things have been going segment by segment, except pickups, you could say that's been the trend."
In 2008, new vehicles with four-cylinders made up 40 percent of the market, according to market researcher R.L. Polk & Co.; today, they are 53 percent of the new-vehicle market.