Early next year Ford will launch a version of the Focus emitting 99g/km. Nothing unusual in that, you might think, except that this 99g/km Focus will have a petrol, not a diesel, engine.
It will use a carefully tweaked version of the 100hp 1.0-litre, three- cylinder turbocharged EcoBoost engine (pictured right) that has been winning both plaudits and sales since it was introduced in the Focus, and latterly the Fiesta and B-Max models.
Ford claims that the new model will achieve a fuel consumption rating of just 4.3-litres per 100km (that’s slightly better than 67mpg), a figure that Ford says will make it the most fuel-efficient petrol powered family car it has ever produced.
In Ireland, with that 99g/km rating, it would qualify for Band A2 motor tax rate of €180 a year, assuming that the Government does not further tinker with the bands and rates before the model is introduced early in 2014.
The emissions figure represents a cut of 10g/km compared to the standard 100hp 1.0-litre Focus EcoBoost, but is still behind the 88g/km (and 3.4 litres per 100km fuel economy) claimed by the Focus diesel Econetic model.