Ford: Perfect Timing for EcoBoost Celebration
May 19, 2009
By Michelle Krebs
Once again, Ford has lucked out in terms of timing.
As President Obama was announcing stricter fuel economy and emissions standards in Washington, D.C., Ford was celebrating the production of its new EcoBoost engine in Cleveland.
The opportunity to promote Ford, which has tried to set itself apart from General Motors and Chrysler by not taking government assistance -- and staying away from bankruptcy -- was not lost on company CEO Alan Mulally, who flanked President Obama at his White House press conference.
By 2013, Mulally told the assembled Washington press corps, Ford will offer the EcoBoost engine in 90 percent of its models. That amounts to 700,000 vehicles annually in North America and 1.3 million globally.
EcoBoost combines turbocharging and direct injection to deliver the power of a V8 and the fuel economy of a smaller V6. Mulally said the fuel savings is about 20 percent.
Ford's EcoBoost engine will be offered this summer as an option on the Lincoln MKS and Ford Taurus SHO sedans. It will be available on the Lincoln MKT and Ford Flex crossovers in the fall. Next year, the V6 engine will be offered in the Ford F-150 pickup, which now comes only with a V8.
In Cleveland, Ford held the official kick-off of production for the engine Tuesday at its plant in Brook Park, Ohio, outside of Cleveland. The historic 58-year-old plant, which once produced V8 engines and the legendary Boss 302, has been closed for nearly two years. After a $55-million renovation, the plant has reopened with 250 employees, a number that could go higher in time.
This is not the first time Ford has been lucky in timing. The automaker borrowed millions of dollars long before the credit crisis hit last fall, a move that allowed it to continue operating and investing in new products while GM and Chrysler have gone begging to Washington for help.
Photos by Ford
1 - A workers at Ford's Cleveland engine plant dresses an EcoBoost engine.
2 - The 2010 Ford Taurus SHO will have the EcoBoost engine.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:02 AM under Ford , Personalities , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | Seed Newsvine
With all respect to the author of this column Ford mortgaged many of it's assets to get the financing it needed to try and weather this financial downturn without government money. At the time all the analysts, and I suspect postings on this very site, said Ford was much further behind GM in it's turn around efforts. I think those that published these opinions were wrong then and wrong now if they think this is simply lucky timing. Hopefully car buyers and investors do not put too much stock in these opinions.
Posted by: georgehughes35 | May 19, 2009 at 1:36 PM