New Ford Focus to Get EcoBoost Engine

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North American Int’l Auto Show

DETROIT – Ford Motor Co. says a version of its direct-injected turbocharged EcoBoost engine will make its way into the new global Focus C-car.

Additionally, Ford Chairman Bill Ford says his company’s next-generation hybrid-electric and plug-in-electric vehicles will be built at the auto maker’s assembly plant in Wayne, MI.

Ford’s next-gen PHEV will be based on the auto maker’s global C-car platform and debut in 2012. Details are scarce on the next-generation HEV.

The redesigned ’12 Focus, introduced at the North American International Auto Show here today, will be powered by a vast array of engines in Europe, including gas and diesel mills in various displacements.

For North America, the ’12 Focus will be offered with a new 2.0L direct-injection 4-cyl. that will be assembled at the auto maker’s Dearborn, MI, engine plant.

Ford execs are mum on horsepower and torque figures on the new 2.0L, noting more details will be revealed closer to the vehicle’s launch early next year.

However, Ford says the new mill should produce up to 20 hp more than the current 140-hp 2.0L Duratec 4-cyl. The engine also is expected to be 10% more fuel efficient than the outgoing mill.

’12 Ford Focus

Derrick Kuzak, group vice president-global product development, declines to reveal which version of the EcoBoost engine will debut in the Focus and when.

However, it is believed to be an upcoming 2.0L EcoBoost rumored to replace V-6 engines in Ford vehicles such as the Fusion midsize sedan and Escape cross/utility vehicle.

Kuzak does say the ’12 Focus will offer EcoBoost in all markets where the car is made available, as well as multiple body styles, including the 5-door hatchback and 4-door sedan models.

Ford says the ’12 Focus is expected to be sold in 122 countries and manufactured overseas in in Saarlouis, Germany, and Chongqing, China.

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