Honeywell Turbocharger. Photo from www51.honeywell.com

The mainstream automotive sector is finding out what high performance enthusiasts have known for years, turbochargers add power without sacrificing economy. 

The use of turbochargers to boost power in smaller automotive engines is expected to increase rapidly over the next five years, with the greatest growth anticipated in China, according to Terrence Hahn, president and CEO of Honeywell Transportation Systems. Honeywell International Inc, is a major player in the sector.

Driving the growth spurt are twin pressures on the global auto industry to reduce fuel consumption and exhaust emissions, which in turn are driving an industry-wide reduction in engine size.

“Turbocharging is a no-compromise solution,” said Hahn. “The devices, which force-feed a more compressed air-fuel mixture that burns more efficiently in gasoline and diesel engines, can help improve performance and acceleration in smaller engines,” he said, “but not at the cost of fuel efficiency.”

Because of the direction of engine size and fuel economy regulations worldwide, Honeywell, which claims to be the world’s largest turbocharger manufacturer, forecasts that the devices will be installed on nearly 40 percent of vehicles sold globally in 2018.

Independent sector forecasts have predicted amounts up to more than 32 million vehicles will be sold in 2018 with turbochargers. This is up 33 percent from the 24 million sold this year in the world market. Of those, nearly one-third of the vehicles sold worldwide (about 10 million) are expected to be sold in China. Hahn reported to Reuters that China sales of vehicles with turbo chargers this year are 4-million.

In comparison, turbo charged vehicles in North America are expected to grow from about 3.9 million to 6.5 million over the same period, he said.

What has brought this growth in turbo charger power adders to the vehicle makers on cars heading to China?  Hahn said tighter emissions regulations and higher taxes on larger engines in China are  incentives while part of the projection is China’s overall vehicle market that continues to outpace North America and Europe.

Hahn declined to specify how much revenue the turbo charger business generates for Honeywell. But industry research firms project global revenues for the sector of more than $12 billion by 2017.

General Motors posted record first-half sales in China, where GM sales now have surpassed the total number of vehicles the company sells in its home market of the United States.

GM and its Chinese joint venture partners saw sales surge by 10.6 percent during the first half of 2013, to nearly 1.6 million vehicles, an all-time record that positions it as the  number 2 automotive manufacturer in China. GM sold just over 1.4 million vehicles in the U.S. during the same period. GM outsells the Ford brand four to one in China. According to Honeywell, turbochargers are used on a broad range of vehicles in China, from subcompact cars to heavy-duty trucks.