Honeywell predicts major boom in US turbo-charger use by 2020

ERJ staff report (AN)

Traverse City, Michigan -- Turbo-charger use on US light vehicles will zoom to 82 percent by 2020 from just 5 percent in 2009, said Steve McKinley, a top executive with Honeywell Turbo Technologies.

McKinley, who is vice president of engineering for the Americas, said the boom is being driven by tougher government fuel-economy regulations, rising fuel prices and consumer appetites.

The Obama Administration is raising average fleet fuel economy to 54.5 mpg by 2025.

"Optimising every ounce of fuel economy is going to be absolutely critical," said McKinley on the sidelines of the conference here.

Honeywell is a dominant global supplier of turbochargers, along with BorgWarner Inc.

McKinley said there are about 50 million vehicles globally today with turbochargers, which boost engine performance and allow carmakers to build smaller engines with the power and torque of bigger ones.

He declined to talk about Honeywell's market share, but said the company's goal is to obtain 50 percent of all new business available.

While automakers consider engines a core competency, McKinley said he expects turbochargers to remain in the domain of suppliers because of the reliability of current generation turbos and the technological barriers to entry.

He said suppliers such as Honeywell are working ever closer with the carmakers to integrate the turbos into both gasoline and diesel engines that they are developing.

From Automotive News (A Crain publication)