Vehicle control device

A vehicle control device for being mounted on a vehicle including an engine with a supercharger and an automatic transmission coupled to the engine, and for controlling an operation of the vehicle, the vehicle control device programmed to:

• execute an up-shift of a gear ratio in the automatic transmission;
• determine, based on a speed of the vehicle detected by a vehicle speed sensor and an accelerator opening information detected by an accelerator opening sensor, when an up-shift condition for executing the up-shift of the gear ratio is satisfied;
• determine when a switching condition for switching from one of a stoichiometric combustion mode and a combustion mode of executing a rich spike control to a supercharged lean combustion mode is satisfied, wherein
• in the stoichiometric combustion mode, an air-fuel ratio of the engine is a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio, and
• in the combustion mode of executing the rich spike control, an exhaust gas of the engine is purified by occluding nitrogen oxide in a catalyst such that the air-fuel ratio is temporarily made rich;
• and
• command the up-shift of the gear ratio when the up-shift condition and the switching condition are satisfied.