Ford Plans to Introduce More Fuel-Efficient Engine in 2009

Ford Motor Co., the second-largest U.S.-based automaker, plans to introduce a new, more fuel- efficient engine as the company tries to halt a sales slide in its home market.

Ford says the EcoBoost engine can improve mileage by as much as 20 percent. The new engine uses turbocharging, which forces air through it. The company says the EcoBoost engine can be smaller and lighter without sacrificing power.

``Customers do want better fuel economy,'' Derrick Kuzak, Ford's product-development chief, told reporters during a Dec. 11 briefing at a company facility in Dearborn, Michigan. ``We need to do it to gain share and volume.''

Ford, which is also based in Dearborn, was passed by Toyota Motor Corp. in 2007 for the No. 2 spot in U.S. sales. Ford had held the position since 1931 and hasn't been third or smaller in U.S. sales since 1905. The company has had 12 consecutive years of declining U.S. market share.

Gasoline prices of $3 or more a gallon have hurt sales of large pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles, Ford's main source of profits in the 1990s. Sales declines of such models contributed to a record $12.6 billon loss in 2006.

Turbocharging isn't a new technology. Some types of race cars have used turbochargers because they increase power by forcing more air through the engine. Ford, in its statement, said EcoBoost also will have what the company calls ``direct injection,'' where small, precise amounts of fuel are injected into each cylinder.

Lincoln MKS the First

Ford plans to introduce a V-6 EcoBoost engine in 2009 for the Lincoln MKS sedan, the automaker said in an e-mailed statement. The MKS will first go on sale in mid-2008 as a 2009 model. The V-6 EcoBoost engine will produce about 340 horsepower, or about as much power as a V-8 engine, the company said.

The company will introduce both four- and six-cylinder versions of EcoBoost. Ford, in the statement, estimated it would have about 500,000 EcoBoost-powered vehicles on the road by 2013.

To promote EcoBoost, Ford also will show a prototype sport- utility vehicle, called Explorer America, equipped with an EcoBoost engine at this month's North American International Auto Show in Detroit.