#ecoboost

At 20/28 MPG city and highway, Ford‘s Ecoboosted Explorer is the most efficient seven-passenger SUV on the market.

With 28 MPG on the highway that’s 3 more than a Highlander, 4 more than a Traverse, and 5 more than both the Highlander and Grand Cherokee. Not bad for a four-cylinder. Four pistons in an SUV, of course, still get the stigma of slowness, but the Explorer delivers 240 horsepower and 270 lb-ft of torque. Thanks to the miracle of turbocharging, this is more torque than the 250 lb-ft found in the 3.5-liter V6.

And all on regular gas, too!

There are some drawbacks, however. Ford is saving the 2.0-liter Ecoboost for just the front-wheel-drive model. With that combination, towing capacity drops from 1979 Continental to Miata levels, or 5,000 to 2,000 lbs. And above all, the Boosted Explorer will feature a price premium of $995 over the V6, in a reversal of cylinder count posturing.

Will consumers accept the higher price and lower towing for better mileage? Either way, it’s nice to have the option.

Click here to read AutoGuide’s 2011 Ford Explorer Review or hit the jump to watch our video review:

While Ford has stopped short of confirming it, a recent article on Automotive News suggests that a Fiesta subcompact fitted with the company’s newest 1.0L Ecoboost 3-Cylinder engine is all but a done deal for North America.

For 2012, Lincoln has lowered the price of its not-so-successful EcoBoost MKT three-row crossover by $3,000. There are no equipment of styling changes for this model year, but Lincoln is hoping the lower price will make the car more desirable to consumers. For 2012, the MKT will no longer have the all-wheel drive model with the naturally aspirated 3.7-liter V6. Instead, the AWD model with the 355-hp 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 will cost $46,295 with the price reduction.

Ford is planning to blitz the auto-market for the first quarter of 2012. According to a source inside Ford, no less than eight all-new or refreshed models will start production for Q1.

Ford has officially confirmed that its new ultra-efficient smallest ever engine, a 1.0-liter three-cylinder Ecoboost unit will be placed in the new B-Max MPV.

Today, Ford released details on its new fuel saving 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine and eight-speed automatic transmission to its powertrain lineup. The engine will have three cylinders and deliver performance expected from a larger four-cylinder while getting better fuel economy and achieving lower emissions.

They said it couldn’t be done. They said a V6 would never belong in a Ford F-150, that most American of trucks with that most American of powerplants. But lo and behold, not only is the Ecoboosted V6 more fuel-efficient, but it’s comprised a significant percentage of F-150 sales already.

Ford has waged a public relations campaign to help promote its new EcoBoost F-150 pickup truck. The twin-turbocharged and direct-injection V6 engine might make excellent torque (and at diesel-like revs), but the Blue Oval knew it would face an uphill battle in convincing truck owners to down-size their engine – especially for something that’s relatively untested and fraught with the potential to be a disaster due to its complexity.

The last V6-powered Ford F-150 was sold to the public in 2008, and only 11% of sales were made up of the smaller-engined trucks. Three years later, and Ford’s gamble to offer not one but two V6s in America’s best-selling vehicle seems to be paying dividends, with 35% of F-150’s sold coming with either the base 3.7L V6 or the 3.5L  Ecoboost turbo engine.

If gas hits $4.00 a gallon, which looks to happen soon, Ford is prepared with the right cars says CEO Alan Mulally.

Despite plans by both Mazda and General Motors to bring diesel passenger cars to North America, Ford isn’t biting. The moves made by both automakers are partially in response to demand, but more importantly in response to increasingly strict CAFE standards that they need to meet.

Finally, somebody in top brass gets it. When CEO Alan Mulally oversaw the development of the Explorer upon taking charge of Ford in 2006, he ordered engineers to cut weight and improve fuel economy, or kill the Explorer altogether.

A tip given to Jalopnik states that Ford chairman Bill Ford Jr. confirmed that an Ecoboost engine will appear in the Mustang, although a timeline and engine specifications were not provided.

With 200 of Lincoln‘s 1200 dealers staring down a possible termination of their franchise, an upcoming dealer meeting will provide little comfort to retailers of Ford’s luxury brand, as the Blue Oval will not share upcoming product details with Lincoln’s sales force.

Ford‘s last minivan, the Freestar, left the market in tatters roughly 6 years ago, lagging badly behind the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna. For 2011, Ford is back, with a vehicle that couldn’t be more different.