In its endeavor to provide greater fuel efficiency to consumers without compromising on horsepower, Ford Motor Co. Tuesday announced its plans of fitting a two-liter, four -cylinder I-4 EcoBoost engine in some of its imminent 2010 models, including two hybrids.

Talking about the proposed Ford move of a more fuel-efficient engine for its next year lineup, Barb Samardzich - Ford's VP for Global Powertrain Engineering - said that the I-4 EcoBoost engine enhance the performance of a vehicle, such that it would match the performance of a vehicle with a six-cylinder engine, since EcoBoost can improve power and fuel efficiency owing to turbocharging and direct fuel injection.

By 2013, Ford plans to offer EcoBoost in 90 percent of its product lineup.

Ford happens to be the healthiest of the three Detroit automakers - the other two being General Motors and Chrysler - and has reportedly improved its US market share in the past few months, even topping the Japanese Toyota Motor's share in the last three months.

Expecting its I-4 EcoBoost engine to improve the average fuel economy of its 2010 vehicle lineup by nearly 20 percent from the 2005 levels, Ford said that it is heading in the direction of boosting the fuel economy of its vehicles by over 35 percent by 2015.

In addition, the company intends having at least four electrified vehicles in the US market by 2012.