#ingenium

After becoming the preferred choice for manufacturers delivering both mainstream autos and high-end performance vehicles, the V6 is starting to lose ground to its inline counterpart. Numerous automakers are replacing twin banks with one long one.

Despite the V6’s packaging advantages, mild hybridization and the standardization of modular engines has made the more-affordable straight six increasingly viable. Environmental regulations have also convinced many automakers to downsize, leaving large automobiles with V8-sized engine bays that can more easily accommodate a longer unit with fewer cylinders.

While Mercedes-Benz is probably the automaker best known for helping the I6’s resurgence, it’s not alone. Jaguar Land Rover is also abandoning the V6 for something straighter. Having already shown off its next-gen mill inside the Range Rover Sport HST, the brand now plans to install it in its flagship SUV for the 2020 model year.

Ford Motor Company stuck a “for sale” sign on Jaguar Land Rover as the world spiraled into the 2008 financial crisis, but its engines still beat within many of the British automaker’s models.

That will soon change, as the Tata Motors-owned company continues its rollout of in-house engines designed to reduce its dependence on other companies.

Queen Elizabeth presided over the opening ceremonies for the first new auto plant in the UK in recent memory, as Jaguar Land Rover opened their new engine facility in Wolverhampton.

Mrs. Beckham’s contribution to the automotive world, the Land Rover Evoque, may gain diesel power in the United States sometime soon.