Ford will bring a three-cylinder Fiesta to America. All it took was a little deductive reasoning to figure that out. Various Ford executives have dropped hints -- or pointedly not ruled it out as U.S. gasoline prices rose toward $4 a gallon this year.
And Ford has developed a new 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine dripping with Ford's EcoBoost fuel-sipping technology: turbocharging, variable-valve timing, offset crankshaft and other goodies.
So here's the logic for a U.S. three-banger Fiesta:
-- Production of the 1.0-liter engine starts in Europe in the spring of 2012.
-- The three-cylinder engine will be offered in the United States, Ford powertrain executive Greg Johnson said last week.
-- Ford says it fits only in its three global small cars: The Ka, Figo and Fiesta.
-- Ford will not sell the Ka or Figo in the United States. The Ka, made at Fiat's Tychy, Poland, plant, is too small; and the India-built Figo is a Fiesta derivative aimed at developing markets.
No word on timing. Ford hasn't rated the 1.0-liter's output. But Johnson said Ford's new turbo designs are approaching 120-hp per liter.
The output of the U.S. Fiesta's current 1.6-liter four: 120 hp.
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