International Truck and Engine Corporation, a Navistar company, announced that it will supply Ford Motor Company with a new 6.4-liter Ford Power Stroke Diesel engine for the 2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty.
The new Power Stroke diesel engine will displace 6.4-liters, which is an increase in displacement from the current 6.0-liter V-8. It will be the first pickup engine in North America to use a high-precision, high-pressure, common- rail fuel injection system featuring piezo-electric injectors. Proven and first introduced in European diesel engines, these advanced injectors allow ultra-precise timing of fuel injection for quietness and better emissions.
"For the 2008 model year, Ford and International are introducing a new 6.4-liter Power Stroke diesel that reaches new levels of refinement for truck diesel engines," said Jack Allen, president, Engine Group, International Truck and Engine Corporation. "Our focus at International is on satisfying our customers and our corporate strategy of providing Great Products, Competitive Cost Structure and Profitable Growth. With great products like the new Power Stroke ushering in a new level of clean-diesel technology, we can deliver on this strategy."
International recently invested more than $100 million in new machinery and other equipment at its manufacturing facilities in Indianapolis and Huntsville, Ala. to manufacture the new Power Stroke diesel.
Diesel engines have become the powertrain of choice for heavy-duty pickup truck buyers in the U.S. because they provide more torque for maximum towing and hauling with improved fuel economy.
Industry-wide diesel heavy-duty pickup and chassis sales from 1994 to 2006 grew at an average rate of nine percent per year, according to R. L. Polk & Co. In 2006, 69 percent of these trucks sold were diesel powered.
Ford's F-Series Super Duty trucks, powered by the Power Stroke diesel, are the most popular vehicle in their class, averaging 50 percent market share in the heavy-duty pickup truck segment during the past five years.