Ford and PSA Peugeot Citroen have made a significant step forward in their goal to become the world's diesel engine producers with the unveiling in Paris of the first jointly developed common rail power unit.

The engine will be marketed as the HDi 1.4 by the PSA group and the Duratorq TDCi 1.4 by Ford and is the first in a family of power units set to be produced by the partnership. Future engines to come out of the partnership will be a 1.5 and 1.6 litre, a second generation 2.0-litre engine. 2.7 V6 and a new family of engines for light commercial vehicles.

The two companies predict that production of shared power plants will reach 9,000 per day in 2005. Total investment will reach £760.8m.

The new 1.4 engine, known as a 'featherweight' diesel will be offered in several versions with power outputs of 60 and 92bhp and be fitted to small and medium-sized vehicles.

All engine versions will have more than 60% parts commonality.

PSA Peugeot Citroen's president Jean-Martin Folz said: “This exciting new common rail diesel engine will allow us to offer more economical, cleaner vehicles endowed with a high level of driveability. This first result of the co-operation between our two groups will lead us to achieve industry-leading economies of scale and will rapidly position us as the world's leading manufacturers of diesel engines.”