Ford Motor Company's ultra-fuel efficient and spirited 1.0-liter EcoBoost petrol engine was named “2013 International Engine of the Year”, marking the second straight year Ford's acclaimed three-cylinder engine has captured the award. The 1.0-liter EcoBoost – which combines direct fuel injection, turbocharging and variable valve timing to lower fuel consumption without sacrificing power – received the highest score in the history of the awards. The engine also won the “Best Engine Under 1.0-liter” category at the annual awards presented by Engine Technology International magazine. Ford also confirmed plans to double production of the engine at its Cologne (Germany) Engine Plant to more than 1,000 engines a day from mid-August to meet demand. In Europe, the 1.0-liter EcoBoost is available in Fiesta, B-MAX, Focus, C MAX and Grand C MAX; it also will be offered in the Transit Connect, Transit Courier, Tourneo Connect, Tourneo Courier, Mondeo and EcoSport. “With a technology as mature as the internal combustion engine, it's very rare to achieve a true breakthrough, but that is exactly what the team accomplished with this engine,” said Joe Bakaj, Ford vice president, Global Powertrain. “You have to drive it to believe a small three-cylinder engine can deliver such performance and fuel economy.” Ford is one of three carmakers to record back-to-back victories in the 15-year history of the awards. The Ford 1.0-liter EcoBoost also has won the International Paul Pietsch Award 2013 for technological innovation at German magazine Auto Motor und Sport Best Cars Awards and the Dewar Trophy from the Royal Automobile Club in Great Britain, a Breakthrough Award from Popular Mechanics magazine in the US. The 1.0-liter EcoBoost was designed at Ford's research and development centres in Aachen and Merkenich, Germany, and Dunton, UK, and is built in Cologne and Craiova, Romania. The 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine is currently offered in small cars such as Fiesta and B-MAX and compact offerings including Focus, C-MAX and Grand C-MAX. In the near future it will power larger cars including the new Ford Mondeo. It also will be offered in Transit Connect and Transit Courier commercial vehicles and Tourneo Connect and Tourneo Courier people movers. Ford of Europe plans to triple annual production of vehicles equipped with fuel-efficient EcoBoost petrol engines to approximately 480,000 by 2015, from 141,000 in 2011. The company projects that more than 300,000 of those vehicles will be equipped with the 1.0-liter EcoBoost. In the first quarter of 2013 in Europe, the 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine accounted for 42 percent of orders in B-MAX, 30 percent in Focus and 24 percent in Fiesta across Ford's 19 traditional European markets. – SG
