PSA Peugeot Citroen and Ford Motor Co. are dissolving a 12-year-old joint-venture program that develops and produces diesel engines — over 20 million 1.4-liter, 1.6-liter, and 2.0-liter engines since 2000. The decision appears to be a step in advance of Peugeot’s cross-shareholding alliance with General Motors. However, representatives of both automakers rejected that explanation.
The decision will not affect current production of jointly developed engines, nor will be the engine products developed to meet emerging EU emissions standards.
Products that are affected include larger engines (over 2.0 liters) developed for commercial vehicles that will be available in the coming decade.
In a statement, Peugeot indicated that the two companies have decided to develop and manufacture larger diesel engines (2.0-liters and above) independently, to meet future needs and new regulations.
The DLD engine family is a series of compact straight-4 diesel engines that Ford and Peugeot developed, produce at Ford engine plants in Dagenham, England, and Chennai, India, and at Peugeot’s plant at Trémery, France. About 3 million units have been produced annually.
A Ford-designed 1.8-liter engine was added later to the DLD family, but is unrelated to the previous, jointly developed models.
