Ford plans to more than Triple EcoBoost-Powered car output for europe by 2015

Ford of Europe is planning to more than triple the production of its vehicles equipped with fuel-efficient and powerful EcoBoost petrol engines to approximately 480,000 in 2015, from 141,000 last year. More than 300,000 of that projected yearly output will be
vehicles equipped with the new 1.0-litre EcoBoost.

The announcement comes as production of the 1.0-litre EcoBoost begins at Ford’s new plant in Craiova, Romania. Ford’s high-tech, EcoBoost global family of engines combine turbocharging, direct fuel injection and variable valve timing on both intake and exhaust to deliver the power of a larger engine with the fuel efficiency of a smaller unit.

Ford plans to build 800,000 vehicles equipped with the class-leading 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine for the continent between 2012-2015 in Romania and Cologne, Germany. A total of 1.3-million EcoBoost engines of all displacements will be built for European cars over the time period.

“Our EcoBoost plans are aggressive, but we believe as customers experience this engine family, they’ll understand why,” said Sherif Marakby, Powertrain Director, Ford of Europe. “We’re at the cutting edge of innovation and the 1.0-litre engine cannot be matched for its balance of efficiency, power and refinement.”

The production expansion is accompanied by an increase in the availability of EcoBoost engines across the model line-up in the European Ford range. The number of Ford models available with EcoBoost engines will double to 10 from five by 2015 when EcoBoost engines will power more than half of all Ford of Europe petrol-engined cars.

EcoBoost was introduced in Europe in late 2010 in 1.6-litre displacement for the C-Max and both 1.6-litre and 2.0-litre displacements for the S-Max, Galaxy and Mondeo. In 2011, the European range was extended to include Focus with EcoBoost.

This year, the new three-cylinder, 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine was introduced in the Focus to wide acclaim from the media for best-in-class fuel efficiency and surprising performance and refinement. The new engine will be offered later this year in the C-Max and new B-Max, and then to several other Ford vehicles in the future.

This popularity and expansion of the EcoBoost range is forecast to see production of these engines grow to 330,000 next year, accounting for 44 per cent of all Ford of Europe petrol engines produced, rising to a 57 per cent share in 2015.

Ford of Europe is also on course to produce a further 800,000 EcoBoost engines for markets outside Europe during 2015, up from 90,000 in 2011. There are now more than 180,000 EcoBoost vehicles on the road in North America alone.

“Whether it’s the 125 ps 1.0-litre version in the Focus or the high-performance 250 ps 2.0-litre version in the upcoming Focus ST, EcoBoost delivers a combination of fuel efficiency and performance that would have seemed impossible in a petrol engine just a few years ago,” said Barb Samardzich, Vice-President, Product Development, Ford of Europe. “It provides all the performance, refinement and torque customers want with the fuel consumption of smaller engines.”

In addition to doubling the total 1.0-litre EcoBoost production capacity potential for Europe, Ford’s Craiova manufacturing facility also will soon be producing the all-new B-Max, which is due to go on sale later this year.

“Today brings a previously unseen level of high technology manufacturing to this part of Europe,” said Dirk Heller, Ford of Europe’s Director for Manufacturing and Powertrain Operations. “With pivotal products such as the 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine and the new B-Max being produced here, Craiova is very important to Ford’s future success in Europe.”  

Production of the 1.0-litre EcoBoost engines began at Ford’s engine plant in Cologne in November 2011. The 1.6-litre variant is produced at Bridgend, in Wales, while the 2.0-litre EcoBoost engines are produced in Valencia, Spain.

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