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by Dale Buss
Forbes
June 3, 2012
EcoBoost now has become Ford’s No. 1 sub-brand, supplanting the Sync infotainment system. Not since Chrysler based much of its brand equity on the robust Hemi engine several years ago has a major auto company leveraged the identity of an internal-combustion powertrain in such a strategic way.
Of course, EcoBoost engines are no Hemi: Their popularity is skyrocketing because Ford brought together some pre-existing technologies ‚Äî turbocharging, direct injection and variable valve timing ‚Äî in a unique way to reduce engine displacement and hugely boost fuel economy in EcoBoost engines, while Hemi engines were all about delivering horsepower…
Ford’s four-cylinder EcoBoosts deliver basically the performance of a six-cylinder with much better fuel economy, and its six-cylinder EcoBoost generates the punch of an eight-cylinder with much better mileage. EcoBoost improves fuel economy in that way by as much as 20 percent, but the option costs only $1,000 on most vehicles ‚Äî far less than the premiums of up to several thousand dollars demanded by hybrids and even the $1,500 to $2,000 extra that buyers typically pay for a diesel powertrain compared with a conventional internal-combustion engine.
