Like its fraternal American twin, the new 2013 Escape, Ford's European Kuga will depend heavily on the new EcoBoost engine family.
Ford of Europe is planning to more than triple production of vehicles equipped with fuel-efficient EcoBoost engines by mid-decade, even as the maker rapidly ramps up production of the turbocharged powertrains in North America, as well.
The announcement comes as production of the new 1-liter EcoBoost begins at Ford’s new plant in Craiova, Romania. Ford’s high-tech, EcoBoost global family of engines combines 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 now plans to boost annual production of its various EcoBoost engines to approximately 480,000 in 2015, from 141,000 last year. The new 1-liter EcoBoost is expected to account for nearly two-thirds of that production – or 300,000 vehicles annually by mid-decade. From now through 2015, a total of 1.3 million EcoBoost engines of all displacements will be built for European use.
“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-liter engine cannot be matched for its balance of efficiency, power and refinement,” he added.
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 by 2015 when EcoBoost engines will power 57% of all Ford cars with gasoline engines.
EcoBoost was introduced in Europe in late 2010 in 1.6-liter displacement for the C-MAX and both 1.6-liter and 2.0-liter displacements for the S-MAX, Galaxy and Mondeo. In 2011, the European range was extended to include the latest version of the Ford Focus.
This year, the new three-cylinder, 1-liter 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 be added to several other Ford lines in the future.
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. That demand is also expected to rise sharply as Ford expands the use of the technology. In the new U.S. Ford Escape, for example, the maker will offer both a 1.6-liter and 2.0-liter version of the EcoBoost powertrains, dropping the larger 3.0-liter V-6 as well as the Escape hybrid powertrains. The only conventional powertrain left will be the 2.5-liter naturally aspirated base engine.
Sales of the EcoBoost-powered Ford F-Series pickups has also been surging and, along with a naturally aspirated V-6, the two powertrains now account for half of all sales of the full-size truck.
“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-liter 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-liter EcoBoost engine and the new B-MAX being produced here, Craiova is very important to Ford’s future success in Europe,” he said.