COLOGNE, GERMANY – Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally on Nov. 9 launched volume production of Ford’s smallest gasoline engine – a 1.0-liter, turbocharged, direct injection EcoBoost engine that will debut in Europe in early 2012 and ultimately be available worldwide.

Production of Ford's new 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine

Production of Ford's new 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine

Ford announced that when the 1.0-liter, three-cylinder EcoBoost engine debuts in the European Ford Focus, it will produce 125PS while curbing gasoline CO2 emissions to just 114g/km. A 100PS version of the same engine will deliver gasoline CO2 emissions of 109g/km.

“The new 1.0-liter EcoBoost – and our entire family of EcoBoost engines – represent technology breakthroughs that deliver power, fuel efficiency and low CO2 emissions through turbocharging and direct injection,” Mulally said. 

Mulally was joined by Hannelore Kraft, prime minister of Nordrhein Westfalen, Germany, and Elfi Scho-Antwerpes, mayor of Cologne, for the event. Ford said it invested €134 million ($200 million) to develop a special high-tech line at the Cologne Engine Plant to build the engine. The plant’s 870 employees will build up to 350,000 units a year of the new engine.

European production capacity could increase to up to 700,000 units per year as production of the new small EcoBoost engine at Cologne is joined by Ford’s new engine plant in Craiova, Romania, in manufacturing the new 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine in early 2012. In the years ahead, Ford anticipates production to expand outside of Europe to deliver availability for customers around the world and global production of up to 1.3 million 1.0-liter EcoBoost engines per year. 

Ford's new 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine

Ford's new 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine

This new EcoBoost engine delivers performance to rival a traditional 1.6-liter engine, Ford said, along with significantly improved fuel efficiency and lower CO2 emissions. The 1.0-litre EcoBoost cylinder block can fit onto a sheet of A4 paper but delivers up to 125PS and 170Nm peak torque (with 200Nm overboost), giving it the highest power density of any Ford production engine to date.

The new EcoBoost is set to debut in the European Ford Focus in early 2012. The engine also will be featured in the Ford C-MAX, as well as the new Ford B-MAX that enters production in 2012. 

Ford plans to announce further global applications for both the 125PS and 100PS variants at a later date.

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