The first Ford Motor Co. plant to make a new line of fuel-efficient engines will help the automaker deliver the kind of fuel economy that customers demand, officials said Friday.

The plant in suburban Cleveland, idled since 2007, was chosen to make the 3.5-liter, V-6 EcoBoost engines that will be standard on the Ford Taurus SHO and optional on the Lincoln MKS and MKT, and Ford Flex cars.

EcoBoost engines combine direct injection technology and turbo-charging for improved fuel efficiency and lower CO2 emissions. Ford says they can achieve up 20 percent better fuel efficiency and 15 percent lower CO2 emissions, compared with larger displacement engines, without sacrificing power.

Pressured by Washington and last year's spike in gasoline prices, the troubled auto industry has accelerated what was a gradual push toward smaller and more fuel-efficient cars.

Gary Johnson, Ford's director of manufacturing, estimated the new EcoBoost engine would get 25 to 26 miles per gallon on the highway and 18 to 20 miles per gallon in city driving.

The program is designed to be a first step toward eventually using the technology in four-cylinder engines, he said.

Cleveland Engine Plant No. 1, which was Ford's first engine plant in Ohio when it opened in 1951, had more than 500 employees when it was shut down in May 2007. It was retooled to make 3.5-liter engines, but production wasn't immediately needed, and the opening date was pushed back at least twice.