It’s hard to find anything that better symbolizes the American love affair with the automobile. But is the V-8 on its last legs? It’s been the engine of choice for muscle car knuckle-draggers, luxury car aficionados, and truck haulers alike, but in an era of $4 a gallon, a new study suggests the V-8 is a dinosaur that could soon go extinct.

“V-8 output is expected to plunge 45 percent…by 2009,” projects a new report from PriceWaterhouse-Coopers. In fact, ask the authors, are we looking at the “death of the V-8?”
 
Or, to paraphrase Mark Twain, are reports of the V-8’s demise “greatly exaggerated?”
 
Indeed, we’ve heard it all before. In the days after the twin oil shocks of the 1970s, automakers rapidly downsized both their cars and their powertrains. But the return of performance and the rise of the personal use light truck brought V-8s back like the proverbial phoenix. As recently as 2004, “eight-bangers” were stuffed under the hoods of 4.7 million vehicles sold in the United States, over 30 percent of the market.

But this time, the chance of a fuel price reprieve seems minimal, and all signs suggest that motorists are really looking for more fuel-efficient alternatives, whether hybrids, like Toyota’s Prius, or next-generation gasoline or diesels. The newest versions of the latter can generate V-8 power, especially cargo-hauling torque. And advanced gasoline engines, like Ford’s Ecoboost, promise to deliver V-8 power out of a higher-mileage V-6.

Even so, the PriceWaterhouse-Coopers study concludes that the V-8 “will continue to play a role in the North American market, albeit in an increasingly limited capacity within more specialized segments. As new (fuel economy) milestones are implemented through 2020, V8s are likely to become a more niche offering.”
 
The V-8 is dead. Long live the V-8.

Paul A. Eisenstein is an award-winning journalist who has spent more than 30 years covering the global auto industry.  His work appears in a wide range of publications worldwide, and he is a frequent broadcast commentator on subjects automotive.

V-8’s transition to niche market

- V-8 sales once dominated the American auto market.

- Sales have collapsed in the wake of $4 gas, and could drop 45 percent by 2009.

- But don’t expect the “eight-banger” to vanish entirely.