Far more customers are choosing Ford vehicles packing fuel-efficient EcoBoost engines than the automaker expected, according to an analysis of sales data. As a result, the company is hurrying to put the V-6 version of the motor in new vehicles, including the F-150 pickup in the United States and the Ford Falcon sedan in Australia. Next year, the company intends to roll out new four-cylinder models in the U.S. and in Europe. “It clearly was part of our plan to distinguish us in a very crowded marketplace,” said Derrick Kuzak, Ford's global head of product development. “It's doing that very well.” EcoBoost customers pay $5,000 to $10,000 more for their vehicles than those who buy the same products without it. This has been one of the leading factors for the automaker's $3.8 billion net pricing gain since the beginning of the year, analyst Erich Merkle of Autoconomy.com told The Detroit News . “It's EcoBoost, plus everything Ford is doing on the quality side, the design side and safety side as well,” Merkle said. “They're hitting on multiple fronts. EcoBoost is an important piece of their competitive strategy. It will become a bigger competitive advantage for them as they start to expand it down into their higher-volume vehicles.”
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EcoBoost Engines Prove Much More Popular With Consumers Than Ford Expected