|
Archives
Ford's EcoBoost Engine Is A Marketer's First
DEARBORN, MI (AP) - Soon after Jim Farley became Ford Motor Co.’s marketing
chief after a 17-year career at Toyota, he took a spin in a subcompact with Ford’s
new direct-injection, turbocharged engine.
“
I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face,” Farley said. “I’ve
never driven a Toyota like that, ever. The torque out of that kind of displacement
- in this case a 4-cylinder - was shocking.”
It is a good thing he feels that way, because one of Farley’s first and
most critical assignments as vice president of global marketing will be to sell
Ford’s engine - dubbed EcoBoost - to buyers bewildered by the ever-growing
options in vehicle technology.
Ford sees the EcoBoost four-cylinder and six-cylinder engines - which were
unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit - as a key
part of its
strategy to improve fuel economy in the near term, along with improved aerodynamics
and lighter materials.
The 2009 Lincoln MKS sedan, out later this year, will be the first Ford vehicle
with EcoBoost as an option. Ford said EcoBoost will give the MKS’s 3.5-liter,
twin-turbocharged V6 the power and torque of a V8.
Ford says EcoBoost can deliver up to 20 percent better fuel economy and a
15 percent improvement in emissions without compromising driving performance.
It is also promoting the engine as a less expensive alternative to hybrids
and direct-injection
diesels. Ford did not reveal how much EcoBoost will cost, but said customers
can expect to recoup their initial investment through fuel savings in two-and-a-half
years, versus seven-and-a-half years for a diesel or nearly 12 years for a
hybrid. EcoBoost is also ethanol compatible.
With direct injection, fuel is injected into each cylinder of the engine
in small, precise amounts, which improves fuel economy and power. The turbocharger
uses
waste energy from the exhaust gas to drive the turbine.
Casey Selecman, manager of powertrain forecasting for the auto consulting
firm CSM Worldwide, said Audi, Volkswagen, General Motors Corp. and others
have
had similar technology on U.S. roads for several years now, but Ford is aiming
for
higher volumes. The company hopes to put EcoBoost engines on 500,000 vehicles
annually by 2013.
“
I think this is really going to be a brave one. We’re going to have to
invest. We’re going to have to tell customers how we’re different,” Farley
said. “Direct-injection gas is really a technology that could be implemented
in the millions. It’s significant. It’s broader.”
Farley said U.s. drivers are not as familiar with direct injection as drivers
in Western Europe, who quickly embraced direct-injection diesels as a way to
cut high gas costs. Many U.s. truck buyers also have adopted direct-injection
diesels, Farley said. Now it is his job to bring that technology to the masses.
“
We need to simplify things for customers. As marketers, it’s unrealistic
to expect customers to understand high-pressure direct injection or forced induction
in turbocharging,” he told the AP.
“
Let’s face it. Ford is a populist brand. On a good day, when Ford works
right, it’s a company that democratizes technology.”
At Ford’s recent holiday media party, which was held in the same complex
where Farley’s grandfather once worked in a Ford foundry, Farley skipped
the hors d’oeuvres and huddled in a back room with one of the maintenance
men so he could get an honest opinion of the new F-150.
Alexander Edwards, who heads the automotive division of the San Diego-based
Strategic Vision consulting group, said Farley was extremely well-regarded
at Toyota. Ford’s
current workers have survived drastic employment cuts and are eager for leadership,
Edwards said.
“
Jim Farley is someone who knows what can be done if he understands the culture
Ford is in right now,” Edwards said. “The message needs to be reassurance,
both to the people who will be working at Ford and to the customers.”
In the past, Farley said, Ford did not have a good enough story to tell to
customers. But the company has vastly improved quality, safety, resale value
and other measures,
and those strides have been noted by Consumer Reports and others.
But Ford cars still are not getting the consideration they should, he said,
so he is developing a new marketing plan that will try to re-establish trust.
As
part of that plan, he wants to decentralize marketing, involve more local dealers,
and make better use of auto shows.
“
That’s the place where you can turn people on. So many companies go to
auto shows and it’s like a parking lot,” he said. “It should
be a hands-on museum, like a kids’ museum.”
Archives
|
