THE new Ford Mondeo should be worth the wait for company car buyers.
A brand new 1.5 litre EcoBoost petrol engine, big brother to the international award winning 1.0-litre engine currently powering the Focus and Fiesta, will find its way into the Mondeo when it launches in 2014.
Expect at least as much power as the present 1.6 litre unit, but with improved economy and CO2 emissions, saving your fuel costs and company car tax bill.
As well as the 1.5 litre version, the Mondeo will get the 1.0 litre 3-cylinder EcoBoost engine, a 2 litre petrol engine, and a range of diesels.
Why 1.5-litre when Ford already has a 1.6 litre EcoBoost?
We’re not the only country with taxes related to engine efficiency.
In some markets, like Ireland and just maybe more significant, China, size matters as well as CO2, and 1.5 is an important fiscal cut-off.
According to Martin Everett, manager of the plant where the new engine will be built, “The two engines will co-exist though the 1.5 will take over in the longer term”.
The engine will be built at Ford’s Bridgend plant in South Wales with the first units rolling of the line next summer. The new robotic assembly line represents a £24 million investment with £12 million coming from the Welsh Assembly.
(And factoid of the day: for those who thought industry was dead in the UK, between them, Ford’s Dagenham and Bridgend plants produce nearly a third of all Ford’s car engines, which are exported all over the world, not to mention V6 and V8 units that find their way into Land Rovers and Jags.)
