The new 2019 Ford Transit Connect Wagon gets an optional 1.5-liter diesel engine.

German automakers were lambasted by the editorial writers at the influential news magazine Der Spiegel for their extensive efforts to defend the diesel engine as the be all and all of a new powertrain line-up provides greater customer choice with a class exclusive diesel engine.

The editorial said that the German automakers including the Volkswagen Group, BMW and Daimler AG, had sacrificed their credibility of the diesel engines that have not lived up to their billing.

Nevertheless, the Ford Motor Co. is moving forward with plans to bring a new small diesel engine to the United States in its next generation Transit Connect Wagon.

Ford is offering a new 1.5-liter diesel engine in the new 2019 Transit Connect. The all-new 1.5-liter EcoBlue diesel engine is targeted to return an estimated fuel economy rating of at least 30 mpg highway.

(Ford debuts new Transit Connect Wagon in Chicago. Click Here for the story.)

The diesel engine is paired with an all new 8 speed automatic transmission to maximize the performance of the engine. A new 2.0-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine with direct injection comes with Auto Start Stop as standard equipment. It too comes mated to the al new 8-speed automatic.

But the 1.5-liter diesel engine in the Transit Connect Van will join the 2-liter diesel engine in the yet to appear Ford Ranger and a 3.0-liter diesel in the Ford F-150 that will be available later this year. All three variants will offer greater fuel-efficiency tan the standard gasoline engines in all three vehicles.

The new 1.5-liter engine in the Transit Connect, which is equipped with a Urea-system designed to limit noxious emissions meets all the federal and California emission standards, Ford engineers told TheDetroitBureau.com.

(To see more about Ford’s mobility vision, Click Here.)

The 1.5-liter engine available in the Transit Connect is part of a family of diesel engines, including the 2.0-liter and 3.0-liter engines, which will soon be available in the Ranger and the F-150 that are built at the Ford of Europe engine plant in Dagenham, England. The plant also builds engines for Jaguar Land Rover.