[RahulNagaraj]

According to a media report, new cars with 3-cylinder engines are gaining popularity in the USA. The three-pot engines, which essentially had zero sales in 2019, now occupy a 5.6% market share at the end of Q2 2023; further approaching 6.2% in Q3.

S&P Global Mobility's Associate Director for Loyalty Solutions & Industry Analysis, Tom Libby, stated that the reason for the rising popularity of small engines is due to the increase in demand for 'subcompact-plus' utility vehicles. Data published by S&P Mobility shows the rise in demand, revealing new registration of subcompact-plus vehicles reaching 5,89,026 by July, compared to 1,23,033 units in previous years.



What's also interesting to note is that while three-cylinder engines are gaining popularity, the market share of larger 6 and 8-cylinder engines is slowing down. Reports state that demand for 6-cylinder engines has fallen by 1.8% since last year. Similarly, the market share of 8-cylinder units has also reduced from 11.5% to 10.9% over the past year.

Four-cylinder engines though, remain the most popular powertrain option in the USA. The market share of the 4-pot engines even increased over the past year and now commands 57.2%.

Source: CarScoops

Link to Team-BHP news

[StarrySky]

My guess is that many of the models with 3-cylinder engines maybe hybrids or plug-in hybrids. So perhaps it is the hybrid/PHEV technology that is gaining popularity, rather than the 3-cylinder engine itself.

I guess same reasoning probably goes for the 4-cylinder engines gaining market share at the expense of 6 and 8-cyclinder engines.

[OffRoadFun]

Originally Posted by StarrySky

My guess is that many of the models with 3-cylinder engines maybe hybrids or plug-in hybrids. So perhaps it is the hybrid/PHEV technology that is gaining popularity, rather than the 3-cylinder engine itself.

Not really, these are the cars with 3-cylinder engines sold in the US and I believe most of them are non-PHEV or hybrid.


Here is a list of cars sold in the USA with 3-cylinder engines in 2023 (thanks google Bard)

BMW Mini Cooper
Buick Encore GX
Chevrolet Trailblazer
Ford EcoSport
Ford Escape
Ford Bronco Sport
Mitsubishi Mirage
smart fortwo
Toyota GR Corolla

In addition to these cars, the following cars also offer the option of a 3-cylinder engine:

Chevrolet Spark
Fiat 500
Hyundai Accent
Kia Rio
Mazda3
Nissan Micra
Toyota Corolla
Toyota Yaris

I would think 3-cylinders have come a long way and are probably no longer worthy of derision or association with vibrating and non-evenly balanced underpowered engines. Some of them produce over 200hp and have good driving dynamics as per reviews.

An example would be BMW X1 (118?), which has good reviews, despite initial scepticism about being a BMW with a puny 3-cylinder engine (not sold in US though)!

[anjan_c2007]

Interesting transition towards 3 from 8 and 6 and 4. There were also quite a few V-12 engines for luxury marques. Ten years ago, only one model widely sold in America had a three-cylinder engine and that was the Smart For Two, precisely that sort of a European microcar. The sales data for the 2023 model year, shows that there were ten different models available in the United States with three-cylinder engines, according to Edmunds.com. These engines were necessarily turbocharged.

Not all these ten models available for 2023 were frail looking 3 cylinder cars, like the ones sold in Europe or other markets. For instance, the all-wheel-drive Toyota GR Corolla, which has a 300 horsepower three-cylinder, is marketed as a performance model for enthusiasts in the U.S.

The 2024 model year Buick Encore GX Avenir with its 3 pot engine has arrived and the day is not far when we would also see a Cadillac, with a three cylinder powerplant.

[L8ButV8]

I have owned four V8 sedans in the US (LS460L, LS460, Lincoln Town Car, Ford Crown Victoria) and this trend does not surprise me. At the end of the day what matters is how the car drives, not how many cylinders are under the hood. With all the tech thats come up in recent years, performance/smoothness is being squeezed out of smaller and smaller engines. I'll give a small example below--

My Crown Vic & Town Car were based on the old Panther platform built in 1979. I loved them, but the performance they squeezed out of large V8s were abysmal (240HP). I bought the Town car for its boat like ride & absolute stunning cruising capabilities-- not for the V8. When I upgraded to the LS460 & later to the LS460L, the more modern V8s (380HP) gave me significantly improved performance coupled with very smooth, refined cruising capabilities. When I look at options on the market now, I can get similar performance from cars with smaller engines.

The only problem is that reliability is compromised (very often) by all the tech needed to improve performance of smaller engines. But I suspect its only a matter of time before this changes, and these engines are super reliable..or replaced by Electrics. In the mean time, I'll hold on to my ancient V8 and stare with envy as one of the modern rockets shoots past me.

[arunrajk81]

There is an affordability crisis in the US and there are very less cars available in the range 20-25k compared to what it was during pre-pandemic.Over that there will be a market adjustment from dealers and huge interest hike due to inflation.The car loan interests went from ~1.xx% to ~8% and fed is planning for one more interest hike later.

So people are trying to buy whatever is affordable to them and in which some of these falls into 3 cylinder category (GR corolla, Yaris and some perf Hot hatches are the exception)
Other than these, I don't think anybody is interested in buying a 3-cylinder car.