Ford sales show move away from diesel

NEW CAR buyers are moving back towards petrol engines after years of diesel domination, if Ford’s latest sales figures are any guide.

The company has revealed that its multi-award-winning 1.0-litre Ecoboost turbocharged petrol engine now powers one in every five cars sold in Europe, totalling 120,000 vehicles from January to the end of June.

That figure is an increase from 104,000 1.0-litre Ecoboost-powered cars sold in the same period in 2013.

Within the statistics there is a clear move away from diesel in some sectors, with the B-Max showing 47% of sales going to the smallest Ecoboost unit. One third (33%) of Focus buyers also went for the same engine.

“Customers are clearly enjoying the benefits from a small engine that offers great fuel efficiency with no compromise to refinement or performance,” said Barb Samardzich, chief operating officer, Ford of Europe.

“The range of models offering the 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine will rise to 11 when the all-new Mondeo is launched in the coming months, and the new 140 PS version in the Fiesta Red Edition and Black Edition shows there is even more potential.”

The engine is the first to win the international Engine of the Year accolade three times running, and is available in 99bhp, 123bhp and 138bhp versions according to model choice.

By Press Association reporter