Brent Snavely

Detroit Free Press

Ford said today it has sold more than 1 million F-150 pickups with fuel-saving, EcoBoost engines that have become the engine of choice for consumers who buy the automaker's most popular vehicle.

The introduction of Ford's EcoBoost engines was initially viewed as a risk when it debuted in 2010 because most truck owners historically preferred more powerful V8 engines.

Ford made the case that the engines save fuel and are still powerful and have more towing capacity than competitors.

Today, Ford's 2.7-liter V6 EcoBoost and 3.5-liter V6 EcoBoost engines account for 60% of the automaker's F-150 sales, and the engine seems to have evolved into a brand name unto itself.

Ford estimates F-150 owners with EcoBoost engines will collectively save an estimated $255 million over the course of a year if gas prices remain at today's $2.30 per gallon national average.

“We are proving that with advanced technologies like EcoBoost and high-strength, military-grade, aluminum-alloy construction, Ford continues to outperform the competition by virtually every metric,” Doug Scott, Ford's truck group marketing manager, said in a statement.

Ford is planning to introduce a redesigned and more powerful engine this fall on its 2017 F-150 pickups.

The announcement comes just days before federal regulators are planning to begin a mid-term evaluation of the industry and CAFE standards the industry must meet by 2025.

With sales of hybrid and electric vehicles falling, automakers are planning to argue that they should get more credit for meeting fuel economy standards with conventional technology like EcoBoost engines.

A Ford spokeswoman said the timing of its announcement was purely coincidental.

Contact Brent Snavely: 313-222-6512 or bsnavely@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrentSnavely.