Pushing gasoline engine R&D at VW

摘要

Dr. Hermann Middendorf's engineers are putting spark-ignition engine technology on the fast track. After 15 years of dominating Europe's passenger-vehicle market, the compression-ignition engine is being challenged. A new generation of downsized and boosted spark-ignition engines is increasingly capturing share, causing diesel's market penetration to flatten out and even decline in some countries. Nowhere is the development of super-efficient gas engines more of a priority than at Volkswagen Group, observed Dr. Hermann Middendorf, Head of Development for the group's EA111 engine family - the smallest-displacement gasoline engines used in VW, Audi, SEAT, and Skoda vehicles.