Momentum continues to build in Dearborn, MI. Ford's 3-cylinder 'EcoBoost' engine has won top honors at the International Engine of the Year awards as the overall winner.

Voting was cast by 76 automotive journalists from 35 countries. It's the first time Ford has won International Engine of the Year in the award's 13-year history.

According to TheMotorReport.com, the win marks the second year in a row that a small engine has won. IEofY chairman Dean Slavnich says the fact that the small capacity engines continue to impress the most in overall terms, even against the larger higher performance engines, says a great deal about the direction of the automotive industry in recent years.

Chris Woodyard from USA TODAY says "It's a tiny titan that packs a powerful punch but it's power and size aren't just what make it special. It is getting more than 50 miles per gallon in Europe, yet is eerily quiet at idle."

The EcoBoost engine is currently featured in the European market Focuses and Fiestas, along with the soon to be released EcoSport small SUV. With the exceptional performance of the 1.0 liter, 3-cylinder EcoBoost, we won't be surprised if Ford makes it available soon for consumers in N. America. But when?

TheMotorReport.com says that Ford Australia's Focus, sourced from Thailand, makes a local debut for the engine unclear and maybe even unlikely, which means that next year's EcoSport launch will likely be the first taste Americans get of the tiny turbo engine.

Ford is producing its popular Focus at its plant in Cologne, Germany and it's a huge success. The Cologne plant currently employs 4,200 workers in each of the three production shifts and has an annually capacity of 400,000 vehicles. They've sold more than 1.5 million since its introduction in 2008.

Other winners at the 2012 awards included the Chevrolet/Holden Volt's 1.4 liter range-extending engine in the 'Green' class; while at the opposite end of the spectrum Ferrari's 458-driving 4.5 liter V-8 took the award for Best Performance Engine and Best Above 4.0 liter.

BMW took four awards, winning with the 4.0 liter V-8 in the M3, the twin-turbo 3.0 liter six, the 2.0 liter turbo and the 1.6 liter turbo engine developed with Peugeot.