Ford launches production of Focus, the most fuel efficient petrol-powered Ford ever!

• Production begins in Saarlouis, Germany of Ford Focus 1.0-liter EcoBoost – Ford’s most fuel efficient petrol vehicle ever
• The new Focus 1.0-liter EcoBoost 100PS delivers class-leading fuel efficiency of 4.8l/100km (58.9 mpg)* and CO2 emissions of 109g/km. The 125PS model returns 5l/100km (56.5mpg) with CO2 emissions of 114g/km
• The 1.0-liter EcoBoost will be introduced to more Ford models including the C-MAX and all-new B-MAX in 2012

COLOGNE, Germany, Feb. 02, 2012 – The Ford Focus powered by the 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine began rolling off the assembly line this week in Saarlouis, Germany, setting a new benchmark as Ford’s most fuel efficient petrol-powered vehicle ever.

The Focus 1.0-liter EcoBoost 100PS offers class-leading economy of 4.8l/100km (58.9mpg) alongside CO2 emissions of 109g/km. The turbocharged, direct injection engine also is available on the Focus in a 125PS version that returns 5l/100km (56.5mpg) with CO2 of 114g/km.

The Focus 1.0-liter EcoBoost achieves diesel engine standards of performance thanks to a steady engine torque of 170Nm between 1,400rpm and 4,500rpm.

“Production of the first Focus 1.0-liter EcoBoost is an important milestone for Ford,” said Ford of Europe Chairman and CEO Stephen Odell. “Developing an engine this small and fuel efficient that still delivers good power and driving fun in a Focus-sized car would have seemed impossible just a few years ago.”

The new 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine is produced at Ford’s engine plant in Cologne, Germany. . Ford invested €134 million ($200 million) to develop a special high-tech line at the Cologne Engine Plant to build the engine. Later this year, production of the engine also will begin in Craiova, Romania. European production capacity could eventually reach 700,000 engines per year.  

The 1.0-liter EcoBoost illustrates just how much Ford and the entire auto industry have been able to continually improve the internal combustion engine, a technology that has been around well over a century.

For example, the 2.9-liter engine that powered the iconic Model T delivered fuel economy 11.3l/100km, while cranking out 20PS – numbers that were impressive in their time. 

The first generation Ford Fiesta’s 957cc engine from 1976 was roughly the same displacement as the 1.0-liter EcoBoost.  The EcoBoost, however, delivers 64 percent more power and 38 percent lower fuel consumption

The 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine was developed by Ford experts across Europe, including engineers at Ford’s European Research and Advanced Engineering Centre in Aachen, Germany, and the Dunton Technical Centre, UK.

 

Editor’s note: Ford’s Saarlouis assembly plant in Germany celebrated 40 years of production in 2010 and is the main European assembly plant for Ford’s first truly global car, the new Focus.

• Saarlouis employs approximately 6,500 workers
• The first model ever assembled at the plant was the Ford Escort Mk1

Courtesy of Ford News