Ford Plans to Introduce More Fuel-Efficient Engine in 2009

(Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co., the second-largest U.S.-based automaker, plans to introduce a new, more fuel- efficient engine as the company tries to halt a sales slide in its home market.

Ford says the EcoBoost engine can improve mileage by as much as 20 percent. The new engine uses turbocharging, which forces air through it. The company says the EcoBoost engine can be smaller and lighter without sacrificing power.

``Customers do want better fuel economy,'' Derrick Kuzak, Ford's product-development chief, told reporters during a Dec. 11 briefing at a company facility in Dearborn, Michigan. ``We need to do it to gain share and volume.''

Ford, which is also based in Dearborn, was passed by Toyota Motor Corp. in 2007 for the No. 2 spot in U.S. sales. Ford had held the position since 1931 and hasn't been third or smaller in U.S. sales since 1905. The company has had 12 consecutive years of declining U.S. market share.

 

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US STOCKS-Market sinks as jobs data stirs recession fears

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks tumbled on Friday, dragging the Dow to its worst three-day start to a year since the Great Depression, as a sharp rise in the unemployment rate heightened fears the economy is heading into a recession.

Technology shares were the worst performer in a broad-based decline after chip maker Intel Corp skidded 8.1 percent on concerns that businesses are unlikely to upgrade computer equipment in the face of a slowdown.

The Nasdaq fell 3.77 percent, bringing the index to its worst three-day kick-off to a new year since it was created in 1971.

The U.S. Labor Department reported job creation nearly ground to a halt in December and unemployment rose to a two-year high of 5 percent.

"The payroll numbers are showing that we don't have the jobs, and if you don't have job income you don't have consumers doing any spending," said Gary Shilling, president of A. Gary Shilling & Co. of Springfield, New Jersey. "I don't think there's much question we're in a recession now."

 

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