Ford plan for Eco message: Power now, mpg in 2010
DETROIT--Ford's new EcoBoost 3.5-liter V-6 engine, which goes on sale this summer, is being pitched as a performance story.
But next year, when the automaker launches a four-cylinder engine with EcoBoost, company marketers will be selling a different message: fuel economy.
"The I4s are going to be further solidifying our EcoBoost message, which is more about the fuel economy piece of it," said Brett Hinds, Ford's advanced engineering design and development manager.
EcoBoost combines turbocharging with gasoline direct injection, allowing significant shrinking of engine size--which saves fuel, according to Ford.
According to the automaker, EcoBoost will be available in 90 percent of its nameplates in 2013.
Ford hasn't disclosed vehicle applications and displacement for the I4 EcoBoost, which goes on sale in 2010.
The automaker has experimented with both 2-liter and 1.6-liter versions in concepts: a unibody Ford Explorer and a Lincoln compact. The I4 EcoBoost also has been mentioned as a possibility for the Ford Fusion mid-sized sedan.
For now, Ford is concentrating on launching the 3.5-liter EcoBoost this summer in the Lincoln MKS sedan and MKT crossover and the Ford Flex crossover and Taurus SHO sedan. It will be available in the F-150 pickup truck in 2010.
According to Ford, the V-6 EcoBoost will produce 355 horsepower and 350 pounds-feet of torque in the Lincolns, better than the V-8s in some competing nameplates. Ford expects highway fuel economy to be at least 22 mpg for the MKT and at least 24 mpg for the MKS.
Discerning the price of the EcoBoost is tricky. Ford has not said how it will package and price the I4 EcoBoost. On the Lincoln MKT, the EcoBoost is part of a $5,000 option package that includes all-wheel drive, an upgraded six-speed transmission, and other features.
(Source: Automotive News)
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by cseppo
May 29, 2009 7:31 AM PDT
- It seems to me like Ford is not on the right page. Instead of 3.5-liter the number should be something like 1,6 or 2.0-liter and the mileage should be 40 to 50, not 22 mpg. EcoBoost sound more like egoboost.
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by GibletMcNiblet
May 29, 2009 9:02 AM PDT
- It sounds like the smaller 2-liter and 1.6-liter I4 EcoBoosts are coming in a few years. I guess they're starting with the high-end models first.
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by NervClaX
May 29, 2009 11:02 AM PDT
- Ford is as doomed as GM. They can't make money selling the smaller cars that will be required to meet the government's new pie-in-the-sky fuel standards. Our legislature needs to check with the laws of thermodynamics before they make policy. When the government is dictating what kind of cars to build and you don't have control of your own labor costs, you are doomed.
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by streamline35
May 29, 2009 11:11 AM PDT
- Reminds me of something funny I heard (I forget where).
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(4 Comments)@ cseppo - Egoboost is a terrible pun. Shame on you.
What's the difference between US and Japanese auto companies? When vehicle emission standards are raised, the first thing a Japanese CEO does is call his engineers, where as the first thing an American CEO does is call his lawyers.