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General Motors has canceled plans to build a new advanced double overhead-cam V8 for its luxury cars.
The move means the future for Cadillac's V8 car engines is unclear.
In January 2007, GM said it would invest $300 million in its Tonawanda, N.Y., engine plant for the new V8 engine, which was scheduled to start production in 2009 and be used in luxury cars.
GM Powertrain spokesman Tom Read said Thursday that the project is dead. That engine likely would have replaced Cadillac's long-running Northstar V8, which is scheduled to end production in 2010.
Cadillac could switch to high-powered V6s in its cars, except for the Corvette-based XLR.
The new direct-injected V6 in the 2008 CTS develops 304 hp, while the current Northstar V8 makes 275 hp in the 2008 DTS.
Cadillac spokesman Kevin Smith said, "We've really seen the V-6 become the predominant engine in sales on the (2008) STS because it's so close in power to the V-8."
He added that the V6 is about 150 to 200 pounds lighter.
The cancellation of the new V8 comes just days after President Bush signed into law new fuel economy standards that call for a 40 percent fuel economy improvement by 2020. The new standards start phasing in in 2011.
The Tonawanda plant still gets at least one new engine, an all-new 4.5-liter diesel V8 engine that starts production in 2010. That engine, GM said earlier, will be used in light pickups and SUVs
The move means the future for Cadillac's V8 car engines is unclear.
In January 2007, GM said it would invest $300 million in its Tonawanda, N.Y., engine plant for the new V8 engine, which was scheduled to start production in 2009 and be used in luxury cars.
GM Powertrain spokesman Tom Read said Thursday that the project is dead. That engine likely would have replaced Cadillac's long-running Northstar V8, which is scheduled to end production in 2010.
Cadillac could switch to high-powered V6s in its cars, except for the Corvette-based XLR.
The new direct-injected V6 in the 2008 CTS develops 304 hp, while the current Northstar V8 makes 275 hp in the 2008 DTS.
Cadillac spokesman Kevin Smith said, "We've really seen the V-6 become the predominant engine in sales on the (2008) STS because it's so close in power to the V-8."
He added that the V6 is about 150 to 200 pounds lighter.
The cancellation of the new V8 comes just days after President Bush signed into law new fuel economy standards that call for a 40 percent fuel economy improvement by 2020. The new standards start phasing in in 2011.
The Tonawanda plant still gets at least one new engine, an all-new 4.5-liter diesel V8 engine that starts production in 2010. That engine, GM said earlier, will be used in light pickups and SUVs
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