Ford’s fuel-efficient engine draws interest, revenue
Posted on November 16th, 2009
GreenWire: Far more customers are choosing Ford cars with the more fuel-efficient EcoBoost engine than the automaker expected, according to an analysis of sales data.
As a result, the company is hurrying to put the V-6 version of the motor in new vehicles, including the F-150 pickup in the United States and the Ford Falcon sedan in Australia. Next year, the company intends to roll out new four-cylinder models here and in Europe.
“It clearly was part of our plan to distinguish us in a very crowded marketplace,” said Derrick Kuzak, Ford’s global head of product development. “It’s doing that very well.”
EcoBoost customers pay $5,000 to $10,000 more for their vehicles than those who buy the same products without it. This has been one of the leading factors for the automaker’s $3.8 billion net pricing gain since the beginning of the year, according to analyst Erich Merkle of Autoconomy.com.
“It’s EcoBoost, plus everything Ford is doing on the quality side, the design side and safety side as well,” Merkle said. “They’re hitting on multiple fronts. EcoBoost is an important piece of their competitive strategy. It will become a bigger competitive advantage for them as they start to expand it down into their higher-volume vehicles” (Bryce G. Hoffman, Detroit News,, Nov. 13). — JK