Ford launch nine engines and six transmissions by 2010

2010 is shaping up to be an extremely busy year for Ford's powertrain engineering and manufacturing teams. By the end of this year, the folks in Dearborn will have launched nine engines and six transmissions that are all-new or substantially redesigned. Several of these combinations have already been revealed over the past month and more will be revealed at tomorrow's Detroit Auto Show.

On Friday morning, Barb Samardzich, VP of powertrain engineering, ran down the list at a pre-show preview. Three years ago, Ford set about the process of completely revamping its powertrain lineup, and between 2008 and 2013, a total of 60 powertrain combinations will have been introduced globally, with half of those coming by the end of this year. We already knew about the new 1.6-liter inline-four and the six-speed Powershift dual clutch automatic for the Fiesta. The Mustang is getting new V6 and V8 engines that crank up output significantly while reducing fuel consumption.

Samardzich confirmed on Friday that the 3.5-liter Ecoboost V6 will land in the F-150 truck later this year. The list presented also includes the previously-announced 2.0-liter inline-four Ecoboost and a new six-speed automatic transmission for transverse applications.

As we reported earlier today, while no one would get specific about exactly which vehicles these would go into, there were smiles and the usual "not ready to announce anything" when we brought up the new unibody Explorer. When the Explorer America concept debuted at the 2008 Detroit show, there was discussion of 2.0-liter and 3.5-liter Ecoboost engines, and it appears that's exactly what it will get.