U.S. Market Trending Back to V-6 Engines

American consumers socked by soaring fuel prices two years ago appear comfortable with higher-output motors once again, according to a Ward’s analysis of ’10-model North American light-vehicle production for the U.S. market.

Installations of 6-cyl. engines on ’10 cars through May tracked ahead of full-model-year ’09 production, 26.9% vs. 24.1%. More demand also was seen for cars with V-8s, as installation rates rose to 6.0%, compared with 4.9% for ’09.

Last year’s ...