The three-cylinder turbocharged engine was developed by Ford experts across Europe, including engineers at Ford’s European Research and Advanced Engineering Centre in Aachen, Germany, and the Dunton Technical Centre, UK.

The most fuel efficient petrol-powered vehicle in Ford history, this Focus can go 100 kilometers on 4.8 liters of fuel, the equivalent of 58.9 miles per gallon.

“Production of the first Focus 1.0-liter EcoBoost is an important milestone for Ford,” said Ford of Europe Chairman and CEO Stephen Odell. “Developing an engine this small and fuel efficient that still delivers good power and driving fun in a Focus-sized car would have seemed impossible just a few years ago.”

The new Focus emits just 109 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer, coming in at the low end of the range of the CO2 emissions for the entire European Union fleet and proving the fears of some in the auto industry to be unfounded.

When the EU was deciding on its current CO2 standard, some in the auto industry claimed that reducing CO2 emissions from cars to no more than 120 grams per km would be technologically impossible to meet by 2012.

Under current EU regulation, average CO2 emissions from cars across the bloc should not exceed 130 grams CO2 per km by 2015 and should drop further to 95 grams per km by 2020.

The 130 gram target will be phased in between 2012 and 2015. It represents a reduction of 19 percent compared with the 2006 level, which was 161.3 grams CO2 per km.

The system works by giving each auto manufacturer an individual annual target based on the average mass of all its new cars registered in the EU in a given year. "The limit value curve is set in such a way that a fleet average of 130 grams of CO2 per km is achieved for the European Union as a whole," says the EU's Directorate-General for Climate Action.

Ford invested €134 million (US$200 million) to develop a special high-tech line at the Cologne Engine Plant to build the turbocharged, direct injection 1.0-liter EcoBoost.

Later this year, production of the engine also will begin in Craiova, Romania.

The lean-running engines will power more Ford models later this year, the company says, planning to place them in its Focus-based C-MAX and B-MAX models.

Ford projects that European production capacity could eventually reach 700,000 1.0-liter EcoBoost engines per year.

Categories: Emissions - Vehicles

Keywords: CO2 - Europa - fuel efficiency - motorization