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The sub-4L V8 has no viable business case outside of select super cars or exotics. Outside of that rarified air, not enough people who want a small displacement V8 will refuse to accept a four or six cylinder equivalent instead. For high performance sport sedans and sport coupes, the marketplace has largely already proven that the number of cylinders is not a crucial part of the package. If the vehicle has the performance numbers, it is going to make the emotional impact it needs to have on buyers.
We'll see 500hp, 600hp, 700hp+ six cylinder hybrids soon. A V8 will become unjustifiable at some point. Another datapoint to consider: when an F150 with a 3.5L turbocharged V6 - not a V8, which has been a staple in this class of truck - has gained hold and not only found a significant number of buyers but begun to outsell the comparable V8, that's some very big writing on the wall. And remember this - your Corvette and muscle cars get the V8 because there's an easy business case when your factories put 1 million of them a year in these high margin trucks. It's all going to end soon enough. From where I see it, no V8 is safe from the displacement downsizing and PHEV proliferation.
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