The 2012 Geneva Motor Show is taking shape rapidly – and now Ford has revealed plans to introduce an all-new Ford B-MAX at the event.

The original B-MAX concept was unveiled at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show and one year on it is set to boast a 1.0litre Ford EcoBoost petrol engine as well as Duratorq TDCi diesel engines.

There are a host of new features in the B-MAX which required a new approach to door construction for wide-open access for drivers, passengers and luggage. The centre pillars have been integrated into the doors.

The all-new Ford B-MAX is scheduled to go on sale in Europe later this year.

Sales of the Ford Transit Connect have continued at a rapid pace after Azure Dynamics Corporation announced 45 new sales.

It has revealed that it will send 20 units to Europe; and 25 to North America. The latter order will include six units through the General Services Administration in San Antonio, Texas; as well as a four-unit order from Verizon; and a four-unit order from an internet company.

Thanks to these orders, Ford Transit Connect Electric sales have now surpassed $32million in less than 12 months.

The Ford Transit Connect Electric features a lithium-ion battery from Johnson Controls and it can achieve a range of 50-80miles.

Part of the reason for the success has been its agreements with more than 160 Ford commercial truck dealerships across key markets in North America. Around 90 of these support sales and service activities for the Transit Connect. Meanwhile it also has deals in six European countries with 57 store locations.

Ford is to make use of a new green material called Kenaf in its Escape model, as part of its wider efforts to improve the sustainability of its vehicles.  Kenaf -a tropical plant related to cotton and okra plants-will be used in making the bolster material inside the car door, in place of oil-based products.

The US car maker expects that the use of the new plant-derived material will help to offset 300,000 pounds of oil-based resin annually in North America. What’s more the lightweight nature of the material will help to reduce the weight of door bolsters by 25 per cent, helping to reduce the overall weight of the vehicle and contribute to improved fuel economy.

“Kenaf and the other renewable materials in the Escape have made the vehicle more environmentally friendly and fuel efficient,” said Laura Sinclair, materials engineer for Escape.

Kenaf oil is already used in cosmetics and kenaf fiber is used as an alternative to wood in the production of paper. The upper leaves and shoots of the plant are edible.

The kenaf is combined with polypropylene in a 50-50 mixture inside the door of the Escape.

The new Escape, which will be available to US customers this spring, features several other eco-friendly components in addition to the kenaf inside the doors.

Materials that are recycled, renewable, and that reduce impact on the environment include soy foam in the seats and head restraints; plastic bottles and other post-consumer and post-industrial materials in the carpeting; climate control gaskets made from recycled tyres; and more than 10 pounds of scrap cotton from the making of denim jeans.

The Escape is known as the Kuga in Europe.

Ford has committed itself to slashing waste and landfill from its European operations as part of its plans for cleaner manufacturing.

The US car maker aims to cut landfill waste by 70 per cent and cut water use by 30 per cent across its European plants over the next five years as part of its Green Manufacturing Plan. That means that by 2016, average landfill waste generated per vehicle produced will stand at around 1.5kg, compared to 5kg in 2011.

Based on annual production of 1.2 million vehicles, Ford also estimates that it will save 1.3 billion litres of water per year by 2016- equating to an average saving of 1,100 litres for each car or van produced.

At Ford’s  ISO14001-accredited Dagenham facilities in the UK, 85 per cent of total annual waste is already recycled, although the rest currently goes to landfill. However, Dagenham Engine Plant is currently working on an ‘oil reclamation’ process which if successful, will eliminate virtually all of the remaining 15 per cent landfill.

“This plan represents our pledge to minimise Ford’s impact on the environment both before and after our customers get behind the wheel,” said Stephen Odell, chairman and CEO, Ford of Europe. “This goes hand in hand with our commitment to develop the most fuel efficient vehicles. Sustainability makes just as much sense for Ford as a business as it does for the environment.”

The new environmental targets builds upon previous actions that have helped Ford of Europe become the global company’s lowest producer of landfill waste. Ford of Europe has cut landfill-waste generation by 40 per cent since 2007 and reduced water use by 37 per cent over the same period.

In the UK the Ford Dagenham Estate has also taken several actions over the last five years to initiate a downward trend of water usage on the estate. In 2011, 16 million litres of water were used – 26 per cent fewer than in 2006, when 22 million litres were used for operations.

American car giant Ford is launching a new 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine in the Focus this February in the UK.

This unique, British-developed engine will be offered across the Focus range and can provide the equivalent power to that of a naturally-aspirated 1.6-litre engine.

Available in a choice of two power levels – 100PS and 125PS – the least powerful version delivers a combined fuel economy of 58.9mpg and best-in-class CO2 emissions for a petrol engine of just 109g/km.

Graham Hoare, European executive powertrain director based at Dunton, said: "This is the third addition to our acclaimed EcoBoost engine family. Joining the 1.6-litre and 2.0-litre EcoBoost engines which span 150PS to 240PS, this 1.0-litre EcoBoost signals a new era of downsized, super frugal engines for the sub-130PS segment. During development our UK engineers focused on improving thermal efficiency and reducing friction of the engine’s internal moving parts, especially during warm-up."

Around 200 engineers based at Dunton and Dagenham successfully developed the engine, and the engine is so small the cylinder block can fit onto a sheet of A4 paper.

Both versions of the engine qualify for zero rate VED in the first year and then £20 (100PS) and £30 (125PS) per annum thereafter. Compared with the existing 1.6-litre 105PS and 125PS engines, this represents savings of £115 in year one and £95 and £85 respectively in subsequent years. And with petrol around 10p per litre cheaper than diesel at the petrol station it provides significant on-going savings when compared to a diesel-power car.

Mark Ovenden, Ford Britain managing director, said: “Gone are the days when the number of cylinders dictates performance.  This highly efficient, technically advanced powertrain is not only great fun to drive, but it delivers fuel economy improvements and ultra-low CO2 emissions which lead to real world cost savings for our customers.”

Ford has also confirmed that the 125PS 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine will be seen in the C-MAX, Grand C-MAX and new B-MAX later in the year.

Having offered its EcoBoost engines in seven of its models during 2011, Ford will soon increase the number of vehicles featuring the fuel efficient engines to 11 during 2012.

Production capacity for the EcoBoost engines will triple as the Escape compact utility vehicle and the Fusion saloon car both gain a 1.6litre EcoBoost engine option. In addition, the full-size Taurus model will be the first Ford car to offer a choice of two EcoBoost engines – a 2.0litre EcoBoost four-cylinder with the capability of introducing 237hp; and a 365hp, twin-turbocharged 3.5litre V6 EcoBoost in the Taurus SHO sport saloon car.

Furthermore, the Focus ST will offer a high performance EcoBoost application; and Ford will offer an EcoBoost engine for its Police Interceptor vehicle later this year.

In total, Ford sold 127,883 EcoBoost-equipped vehicles during 2011.

With the Detroit Auto Show now open to the public, car fans of all ages have the chance to go sample what the show has to offer.

One stand drawing the crowds this week is Ford’s, where the car maker has found a unique and interactive way to show of the performance and environmental credentials of its EcoBoost technology.

With in the confines of the Cobo Center, it can be difficult to give the public a real sense of what your products offer, with a lack of real world driving opportunities. But Ford is using augmented reality (AR) to give visitors the chance to experience the power of its latest innovations.

Essentially you stand still while rally drive Ken Block donuts around you using the power of interactive AR. Every person who takes part, produces their own mini-movie of the experience, which is then posted on YouTube for them to share with friends via social networks and email.

Ford hopes that the videos will help dismiss the misconception that eco-engines lack power and performance. As shown in the above video, the Fiesta using EcoBoost technology is no pansy!

EcoBoost is Ford’s family of turbocharged and direct-injection three, four and six cylinder engines. Engines equipped with EcoBoost technology are designed to deliver power and torque of a much bigger engine while achieving around 20 per cent better fuel efficiency and 15 per cent lower CO2.

Ford is expected to release a new Ford Fiesta ST featuring a 1.6 litre EcoBoost in 2013, which could feature 177 lb-ft of torque.

As if running on electric power wasn’t an important enough environmental innovation in its own right, Ford has decided to divert about two million post-consumer plastic bottles for use in the Focus Electric, as well as other new vehicles for the next model year.

The Focus Electric will contain REPREVE-based fabrics from around 22 polyethylene terephthalate bottles. The seat fabric, for example, is a polyester fibre from a hybrid blend of recycled materials, such as post industrial fibre waste and post consumer waste. This will also help to reduce energy consumption by limiting the need for new refined crude oil.

According to Carol Kordich, the lead designer of sustainable materials for Ford, the company is committed to delivering vehicles with not only leading fuel efficiency, but also at least 25 per cent clean technology use in interior materials.

Meanwhile, Roger Berrier, the president and COO of Unifi Inc, commented that currently the United States PET bottle recycling rate is only 29 per cent – around half of that in Europe. It hopes that Ford’s movement in this area will help raise visibility on the importance of recycling and assist it towards its goal of driving recycling rates up to 100 per cent.

At the moment, Ford vehicles are around 90 per cent recyclable at the end of their life – and the company hopes to take this rate to 100 per cent.

Ford is to reveal its next generation of the Fusion sedan in the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) this week, before the car goes on sale in the US later this year.

The all-new car signals the next stage of development of the Mondeo too, which is to go on sale in Europe in the first quarter of 2013. 

What’s more the new Fusion will be available as a gasoline, hybrid and plug-in hybrid model as part of Ford’s mission to electrify its range.

With a fresh new face, the gasoline models of the Fusion will be available with a choice of two EcoBoost four-cylinder engines and will offer fuel saving technology including start/stop system, all wheel drive applications and a choice of automatic and manual six-speed transmissions. The 1.6 litre Ecoboost engine is expected to offer class-leading fuel economy of 26mpg in the city and 37mpg on the highway (US economy ratings).

In its latest guise, the new Fusion Hybrid comes with all-new and lighter lithium-ion batteries to save weight and generate more power than previous nickel-metal hydride batteries, while raising maximum speed under electric-only power from 47 mph to 62 mph.

Using an all-new 2.0-litre Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder gasoline engine, significantly downsized from the previous 2.5-litre unit, the new hybrid model is expected to deliver best-in-class fuel economy of 47 mpg in city driving and 44 mpg on the highway.

Fusion Hybrid fuel economy stands to outperform hybrid rivals including the 2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid by 4 mpg city and 5 mpg highway and the 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid by 12 mpg and 4 mpg, respectively.

Most excitingly of all, the Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid, set to launch in the states from the autumn. Offering the best economy of all the Fusion cars, the Fusion Energi is expected to deliver more than 100MPGe (US equivalent economy rating)- 8 MPGe more than the Chevrolet Volt and 13 MPGe more than the projected efficiency of the Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid model.

The NAIAS-also known as the Detroit Motor Show opens to the press today(November 9, 2012) ahead of the public show. We’ll bring you all the latest news of the exciting debuts as it breaks, so stay tuned!

Silicon Valley, in the San Francisco Bay area of California, has served as a hotspot for automotive innovation – and now Ford will open its first dedicated research and development office in the area.

The lab will be opened during the first quarter of 2012 and will act as a hub for independent technology projects and identification of new research investments and partners. The hope is that it will ultimately create an “innovation network” that will connect Ford’s Advanced Design Studio with its employees working with platform partner Microsoft in Redmond, Washington.

Paul Mascarenas, the Ford chief technical officer and vice president of research and innovation, believes that research and new ideas are critical to solving transportation and environmental challenges.

He hopes the lab will help to boost efforts towards reducing energy use; while also enhancing efforts in areas such as wireless connectivity and energy storage.

The team is already working on several key areas, including: personal mobility, with new business models that could help avoid global gridlock; open source hardware and software developer kits, with Ford to launch a new research platform that will allow developers to access key vehicle data and create cloud-based apps and services; and the car as a sensor, which looks at a number of sensors that can improve the road for all drivers.