Ford engine decision due

Ford is expected to decide by the end of next month on its future fuel-saving technologies for its six cylinder Falcon and Territory to go head-to-head against the Holden Commodore and Toyota Aurion.

With GM-Holden tipped to show off new fuel economy tricks in the Commodore update due later this year, the pressure is on Ford to reply with its own strategies.

Ford president and CEO, Marin Burela, says the company will make a decision on its technology within two months.

"We will get to a powertrain decision by the end of July," he says.

"If we go beyond that we will not be able to get the powertrain strategy deployed in time to meet the requirements that we need to meet internally as well as those we need to meet to satisfy the Australian market.

“Burela says there is some fine tuning to be done but the importance of the decision cannot be under-estimated.

"Derrick Kuzak, the global product development head for Ford, is personally involved in working with us to help us get to the best solution," Burela says.

"That shows you the level of focus that Ford Motor Co is applying to make sure we get this right.

"With fleets and governments identifying fuel economy among the key drivers in purchasing decisions Burela is keen to make sure the Falcon keeps pace with consumer demands.

More than 70 per cent of all Falcons and Commodores are bought by fleets.

Burela says there is still room for fuel economy improvements in the Falcon's in-line six cylinder engine, which cracks 9.9 litres/100km combined for the optional six-speed automatic XT sedan and 10.5 litres/100km for the five-speed automatic model.

"We're continuing to work on that," he says.

The I6 engine remains a part of the Falcon and Territory's future even though Ford is looking at turbo-diesel engines and a range of eco-saving technologies like stop-start and dual-clutch transmissions as well.

"The I6 it's part of our plans," Burela says.

Burela says it will remain a part of the local landscape until the next-generation of fuel emission standards are identified "and we don't expect that to be clear for some time".

Ford has not yet approached the Federal Government for access to its Green Car Fund to help fast-track these new technologies.

"We've been very quiet and the reason we've been quiet is that we take the view that we don't want to go to government every five minutes and asking for their support or engagement on things that we're not ready to make a statement on," Burela says.

"I want to make sure that once we're ready to move forward with our powertrain strategy that it's a very cohesive, very comprehensive and very thought-out plan.

"And how we then engage government in terms of the green car fund will be an important part of that overall strategic direction and discussion."