Hurricane Shelved

Ford Motor Co.'s aggressive Hurricane engine program has been shelved due to cost concerns, Ward's learns.

Ford was planning to build a 6.2L V-8 in Romeo, MI, designed to trump Chrysler Group's Hemi V-8 powerplant, but sources within the company say the engine has been put on hold indefinitely because the investment is too high and Ford's immediate spending priorities don't include winning the horsepower war.

Ward's first learned in January the program was approved and Romeo Engine plant renovations were being planned to accommodate another mill. But top decision makers since have changed their minds, and official word came down to Ford employees Feb.3 that the program was being nixed.

The engine was said to be headed to the F-Series lineup in coming years, after which it would proliferate to other products, including cars.

A Ford spokeswoman declined to comment on the Hurricane program, but sources say the auto maker's powertrain department is saddled by investment constraints due to existing and future programs, including a forthcoming 3.5L V-6 and the 2004 launch of a continuously variable transmission from the company's Batavia, OH, transmission facility.

Additionally, Ford product planners are concerned the U.S. demand for big-displacement engines soon may fade as fuel costs continue to rise and better small-displacement applications prove out in the marketplace.

For now, Ford need only look at displacement take rates for proof the U.S. market is still power hungry. Some 44.8% of the 14.1 million domestic light vehicles built in North America for the U.S. market last year carried engines displacing 4L or more, an increase of three percentage points from 2003.

The displacement numbers have held steady over the past decade, ranging between 35% and 40%.