“The production of the EcoBoost 1.5-liter engine started in April 2013 in Craiova and over 90,000 units have been constructed so far. The engine was first launched in China last year, on the new Ford Mondeo, then on the Fusion sedan in North American, and will be available on the European version of the new Mondeo in 2014,” Ford Romania said in a statement.
“The first units of the EcoBoost 1.5-liter engine will be sent from Craiova to the assembly plant for the Ford Focus model in Germany, in the second half of the year.”
The first generation of the Ford Focus model was launched in 1998 and over 12 million units have since been sold worldwide.
Ford estimates Focus sales worldwide stood at 1.1 million units, of which over 300,000 cars in China.
In Romania, Ford currently makes the B-Max model and 1 and 1.5-liter EcoBoost engines.
German media reported recently Ford is expected to relocate part of the production of its Fiesta model from Cologne, Germany, to Romania, in 2017, to lower costs and curb the carmaker’s massive losses on the European market.