Honda Won’t Build V-8 Engines

Honda Motor Co., the third-largest Japanese automaker, has decided not to build an eight-cylinder engine because high fuel prices are pushing buyers to more efficient motors. The company will focus instead on expanding diesel and gasoline-electric engine output.

“It’s not the time to make a V-8,” Honda Chief Executive Takeo Fukui said at the Frankfurt International Motor Show in Germany. “We need to focus on diesels and hybrids first.”

Honda this year expects to build 70,000 diesel motors, for models in Europe, and 30,000 gasoline-electric hybrid motors, which will mainly be sold in U.S. cars. The company plans to boost diesel output to 100,000 motors in two years and hybrid production to as many as 50,000 a year by 2007.

Honda also plans to boost its ability to design new cars and trucks for the U.S. with a second studio in California. The Pasadena facility will help develop “advanced” models for Honda’s biggest market.