Award-Winning 1.0-Liter EcoBoost Engine Coming to North America Next Year in the New Ford Fiesta

• Ford’s newest EcoBoost^® engine is expected to deliver the best fuel economy of any non-hybrid car sold in America

• Ford’s patented 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine will be the most refined and powerful in its class

• Global sales of EcoBoost engines are at 520,000 units and growing fast

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DEARBORN, Mich., Nov. 19, 2012 – The new 2014 Ford Fiesta on sale next year will be the first vehicle available in the United States with Ford’s award-winning 1.0-liter EcoBoost^® engine. Though the car has not yet undergone EPA testing, it is expected to be certified as the most fuel-efficient non-hybrid car available in the United States.

 

The smallest engine available in its class, Ford’s patented 1.0-liter EcoBoost won’t be short on power, torque or refinement. The smooth, quiet-running engine is projected to produce 123 horsepower and peak torque of 148 lb.-ft.

 

“Customers are going to be pleasantly surprised at what the smallest member of the EcoBoost engine family can do,” said Joe Bakaj, Ford vice president of Powertrain Engineering. “Most customers are not going to be thinking about the number of cylinders under the hood when they drive the new 1.0-liter EcoBoost Fiesta. They’ll notice an extremely smooth and quiet idle, terrific acceleration accompanied by a sporty sound at high revs, and – most importantly – outstanding fuel economy.”

 

The newest member of Ford’s global EcoBoost engine family, the 1.0-liter will join the most fuel-efficient lineup in Ford Motor Company’s history. Next year, Ford will offer eight vehicles rated at 40 mpg or higher – double today’s total, and more than any other automaker. Ford tops Toyota in fuel economy in every segment in which both companies compete.

 

The 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine in the Fiesta expands Ford’s power of choice strategy by giving customers interested in a very fuel-efficient car a new alternative.

 

Pricing is not yet set, but as with the other EcoBoost engines available across Ford’s car, truck, SUV and crossover lineup, the 1.0-liter will be a very affordable option. Adding an EcoBoost engine costs about $995 in most Ford vehicles.

 

“Many customers would like the fuel efficiency of a modern diesel or a hybrid, but can’t stretch their budgets to cover the cost premium,” said Bakaj. “That’s where the EcoBoost Fiesta fits in. It will offer a highly fuel-efficient alternative at a lower cost.”

 

Newest EcoBoost engine – a game changer

The 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine is unlike any engine in Ford’s 109-year history. Not only is it the company’s first three-cylinder engine, but it debuts many new technologies never before seen in a Ford vehicle. These include an offset crankshaft; variable oil pump; split cooling system; external-balancing, super-small, responsive turbocharger; and a timing belt immersed in engine oil.

 

The result of the 1.0-liter’s advanced design is a quiet, smooth-running engine that develops roughly the same output as a 1.6-liter four-cylinder. But with about 25 percent fewer moving parts, the 1.0-liter EcoBoost is able to deliver higher fuel economy and lower emissions.

 

“We really focused on reducing the amount of energy the 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine uses by paying very close attention to such things as bearing sizes, piston ring tension and thermal management,” said Bob Fascetti, director, Ford Global Engine Engineering. “For instance, we decided not to use a balance shaft in the engine because it adds weight and increases friction or parasitic losses. So we balance the engine externally with the crankshaft pulley and flywheel.”

 

Super-successful debut

Since being launched in the spring in the Ford Focus in Europe, the 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine has established itself as one of the most noteworthy engines of 2012. In April it was voted International Engine of the Year by a jury of 76 journalists from 36 countries. In June it set 16 land speed records at a racetrack in France. In October the 1.0-liter EcoBoost was given a Breakthrough Award from Popular Mechanics magazine, and this month the engine won the prestigious DeWar Trophy in Great Britain.

 

In Europe, where the diesel engine is king, the 1.0-liter engine now accounts for about 30 percent of sales in the Focus. The 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine is just now launching in the B-MAX and C-MAX, and will also be offered in the all-new Mondeo.

 

The 1.0-liter engine is the fourth member of Ford’s global EcoBoost engine family. Since launch in 2009, Ford has sold more than 520,000 EcoBoost-equipped vehicles globally and expects volume to grow to 1.6 million in 2013.

 

Ford has more than 125 patents on its EcoBoost engine technology, and the number of patents continues to grow.

 

EcoBoost combines turbocharging with gasoline direct injection and variable valve timing to allow a smaller engine to replace a larger one with no loss of performance and at least a 20 percent gain in fuel economy.

 

“We’re extremely proud of the amazing success the 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine has achieved in such a short time,” said Bakaj. “We think it will do extremely well here in the United States. With the 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine in the F-150, we learned customers will embrace smaller engines as long as you don’t ask them to sacrifice performance. The 1.0-liter will deliver three things that matter most to our customers – value for the dollar, terrific fuel economy and great performance.”

Ford, Microsoft Celebrate Five Years of In-Car Connectivity Leadership with 5 Millionth SYNC-Equipped Vehicle

• Five years after launching SYNC^® with Microsoft, Ford has delivered more than 5 million vehicles with the award-winning connectivity system

• SYNC’s success based on open, flexible and agnostic Microsoft platform and vision for mobile connectivity being a growing consumer trend

• Ford and Microsoft look to the future for next phase of the connected car experience to be based on intelligence through fusion of cloud computing and sensor data

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 5, 2012 – Five years ago, Ford Motor Company and Microsoft came together to launch the benchmark for in-vehicle connectivity systems with the introduction of SYNC. Today at the GigaOM Roadmap Conference, Ford CTO Paul Mascarenas and Microsoft Windows Embedded General Manager Kevin Dallas announced the 5-millionth vehicle equipped with SYNC has been sold and they shared their joint vision for continued leadership in development of the connected car.

 

“SYNC has helped us evolve as an automaker, to think and act more like a technology company, with a new level of openness and access that has forever changed how we look at our business and respond to our customers,” said Paul Mascarenas, chief technical officer and vice president, Ford Research and Innovation. “Ultimately, SYNC embodies what Ford is all about: going further to transform innovative ideas into products that are affordable, attainable and valuable to millions of people.”

 

When Ford and Microsoft first initiated the collaboration in 2005, the engineering teams recognized that mobile electronics were quickly becoming an increasingly important part of people’s lives as cell phones and digital media players. Considering how quickly mobile device usage had grown in just the previous few years, the development team decided a new development approach was needed going forward.

 

Click here to view a video about the origins of SYNC: http://youtu.be/CGP9j9iYzww

 

 

“Thanks to our partner Microsoft and their expertise, we have turned the car into a platform with extensive opportunities for developers to work with us to continue to add value through new features delivered at the speed consumers now expect,” continued Mascarenas. “With more than 1 billion smartphones now in service around the world, we expect mobile connectivity will continue to be the foundational element of our strategy going forward.”

 

“We’ve worked with Ford on SYNC right from the start,” said Kevin Dallas, general manager of Windows Embedded, Microsoft Corp. “Taking a platform approach enabled us to move quickly and deliver an innovative solution unlike any in the industry while providing us the flexibility to continue to deliver new features and improvements to Ford customers.”

 

While cars and trucks typically stay on the road for more than 10 years on average, people often replace their consumer electronics every couple of years to keep pace with the latest advances in technology.

 

The SYNC development team created an architecture based on the Windows Embedded Automotive platform that took advantage of open protocols like USB and Bluetooth^® to enable virtually any device to be connected for media playback and communications. That decision turned out to be more prescient than anyone on the team could have imagined.

 

When SYNC was first announced on Jan. 7, 2007 at the International CES, the presentation featured the iPod, Motorola RAZR flip-phone and Palm TREO smartphone. Just two days later, Apple began a mobile phone revolution and the beginning of the app economy with the announcement of the original iPhone. When customers began driving the first car available with SYNC, the 2008 Focus, in fall of that year, most were using SYNC to make hands-free calls using their feature phones and play back music from iPods with simple voice commands powered by Nuance voice recognition technology.

 

Five years on, there are smartphones powered by a diverse range of platforms including iOS, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone mobile operating systems. With ample on-board storage, processing power that rivals desktop computers from five years ago and fast wireless data connections, these phones still work with those original SYNC-equipped vehicles. They can also power new available capabilities on most Ford vehicles like AppLink™, 911 Assist^®, Vehicle Health Report and SYNC Services, a cloud-based service network including traffic reports, turn-by-turn directions, business search, news and sports scores and movie listings.

 

“Now, it’s clear that building an open, upgradable connectivity platform has been key to the success of SYNC because it has allowed us to stay relevant to the consumer,” said Mascarenas. “With available SYNC, Ford vehicles are no longer stuck with the technology built in at the factory, they can keep pace with the latest consumer trends through simple software updates.”

 

Ford was ranked first in ABI Research’s OEM connected automotive infotainment Competitive Assessment, with high ratings for implementation, innovation, and price.

 

With 5 million SYNC-equipped vehicles on the road and the system just beginning to launch in Europe and Asia, Ford and Microsoft, along with Nuance, are always working on new enhancements that can keep customers on the leading edge of in-car technology.

 

“At Microsoft, we’re now focused on how data and connectivity can turn devices into intelligent systems that enable insight-driven action,” said Dallas. “In the vehicle, this means the ability to connect to more data from more sources and use it to help the driver. Together with Ford, we’re helping them turn the connected vehicle into an intelligent vehicle.”

 

Cloud connectivity, on-board sensors and data access are key components for creating this kind of intelligent vehicle experience. Other advances, such as natural language processing and machine learning, could help SYNC provide a more natural interaction between car and driver, enabling a driving experience that’s more personalized and convenient.

 

“The car is a rich source of real-time data and when combined with the processing power available in the cloud, it could become the smartest device you will ever own,” adds Mascarenas.