Ford Motor Co.'s future-product focus is on improved fuel economy by making its vehicles smaller and engines lighter without sacrificing performance, safety or luxury.
It also wants to push the Ford brand more upscale to capture customers orphaned by the shutdown of the Mercury brand, and to attract new buyers with more product offerings.
Ford has said 90 percent of its North American nameplates will be available with direct-injection turbocharged EcoBoost engines as standard equipment or as an option by 2013. That engine puts out as much power as heavier V-8s or conventional six-cylinder engines.
By the end of this year, the EcoBoost will be offered as an option on five of Ford's 15 North American nameplates: the Flex crossover, Taurus sedan, F-150 pickup, Edge crossover, and Explorer crossover. Ford also is developing a 1-liter three-cylinder EcoBoost engine for subcompact and compact cars that is likely to arrive in 2013.
Here are highlights for Ford's 2012-14 model years.
Fiesta: The subcompact went on sale in May 2010 as a 2011 model. The car likely will get the 1.0-liter three-cylinder EcoBoost engine Ford is developing as an option in the 2013 or 2014 model year. A restyling is due in the 2014 model year.
Spy photos have caught a sporty variant of the Fiesta in Europe. It is likely to land here in the 2013 model year.
Focus: Ford launched the redesigned Focus this year on Ford's global compact platform.
An electric version is planned for the 2012 model year. A performance version called the Focus ST, with a 2.0-liter EcoBoost engine, will go on sale in 2012.
There is talk that the 1.0-liter EcoBoost Ford announced it is developing could find a home in the Focus as a fuel economy option in the 2013 or 2014 model year.
There is another high-performance all-wheel-drive RS model that is engineered and sold in Europe, which could be sold here if the car can meet cost targets. The current generation of the Focus RS is priced in the mid-$30,000s.
Mustang: The pony car will be redesigned for the 2015 model year. The nameplate turns 50 years old in 2014; its production start was March 9, 1964. Those inside Ford say the Mustang's 50th anniversary is "hugely important" and Ford will not miss the marketing opportunity.
The redesigned Mustang is expected to move to an independent rear suspension, from the current solid rear axle, as part of a move to a new platform.
Fusion: A redesign of the Ford Fusion and its Lincoln MKZ sibling is scheduled for the 2013 model year. At that time, the two models switch to Ford's global mid-sized platform.
The 2012 Fusion could get the four-cylinder EcoBoost engine also scheduled for the Focus ST and the 2013 Taurus. Ford is likely to drop the V-6 engine option except for the sporty variant.
Ford is developing 2.5- and 2.7-liter V-6 EcoBoost engines for 2014 or 2015. The Fusion would get the 2.5-liter variant, and the Lincoln MKZ would get the 2.7 liter.