Ford Of Europe

Ford is looking to bring over more C-segment crossovers from Europe to the US, and word has it that the people-hauling C-Max is toward the top of the list. The current C-Max would probably be sufficient for US duty in terms of size and performance, but with America's di

At next month's Frankfurt Motor Show, Ford of Europe will show off a new line of powertrains that produce ultra-low levels of CO2. The engines will be common-rail diesels and will first appear in early 2008 under the hood of the Ford Focus ECOnetic. In the Focus, it should produce a class-leading 115g/km CO2 reading. This 1.6-litre Duratorq TDCi engine features a standard diesel particulate filter and also returns 65.7 mpg on the cycle.

Some cloaked shots of the production version of Ford's newest cute ute have surfaced. First shown as the iosis-X concept in Paris, this C-segment crossover features that same "kinetic design language" we see in Ford of Europe's S-MAX and C-MAX, in a size that slots between the two. This small crossover would compete head-to-head with the Toyota RAV-4 and Honda CR-V, among others.

Ford of Europe's Powertrain Engineering executive director Graham Hoare recently discussed the organization and its plans to increase engine fuel economy while simultaneously reducing emissions especially CO2. The department is working, for example, to consolidate various disparate departments more centrally, especially in the area of Dunton, England. Hoare states it's a constant challenge to develop more eco-friendly and fuel efficient powertrains and went on to discuss development of Flex-Fuel

Besides new concept and production car introductions, there's always plenty of news at major shows, and Geneva isn't turning out to be any differently.