GM to Begin Producing New Engine Family in Michigan Soon

If you’ve been keeping your ear to the ground with regards to General Motors’ plans for its small vehicles, you’ll know that there are three important cars in the pipeline. The first is the all-important Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, the new global compact successor to the Cobalt, and a new subcompact global car to take the place of the Aveo.

All of these cars will share one thing in common – their engine family. General Motors has developed a new line of ultra-efficient small-displacement four-cylinder engines called “Family Zero”, and they’ll range in displacement from 1.0 to 1.4 liters, plus include turbochargers for additional power and torque; the Cobalt’s successor will have a turbo where as the Aveo’s will not. A three-cylinder version of the engine family, most likely in the 900 cc range, will also be made for a vehicle that will slot in below the Aveo, most likely the production version of the Beat microcar.

Instead of producing the engine internationally, such as in China or Europe, the engine lineup will be built in Flint, Michigan and production will start up in 2010, in line with launch plans for the Volt and subsequently the new Cobalt.

According to Motor Trend magazine, GM has changed some of its plans for the Volt. It will increase the size of the engine from 1.0 to 1.4 liters, which would be a more effective means of charging the Volt’s all-electric drivetrain.