The 15th International Engine of the Year Awards were presented at Engine Expo 2013 in Stuttgart, Germany on 5 June. The event saw a total of 12 Awards given to those manufacturers that have been judged to have achieved excellence in powertrain engineering.

The global jury, consisting of some of the world’s leading motoring journalists, once again voted for Ford’s 999cc, three-cylinder turbo engine as the best engine on the market, and awarded it a historic second title. This is only the third time in 15 years that a manufacturer has secured back-to-back honours.

The engine, which is used across a variety of Ford’s small cars, managed to retain its title even against very talented new opposition, particularly in the form of VW’s ingenious 1.4-litre, TSI ACT engine, which was voted as the Best New Engine, ahead of Ferrari’s 6.3-litre V12 engine.

Dean Slavnich, editor of Engine Technology International and co-chairman of the International Engine of the Year Awards, said: ‘It says something very special about an engine when it can return to the awards for a second year and still be considered to be the best engine on the market. The victory is all the more impressive given that there are some spectacularly good new entrants into the market this year, including VW’s exceptional new 1.4 TSI ACT engine, but the Ford’s little 999cc unit managed to remain the judging panel’s favourite.’

The new VW 1.4 TSI, seen in the Golf, won the 1-litre to 1.4-litre category, and the company’s 2.5-litre, five-cylinder engine, which can be found in models including the Audi TT RS, RS3 and Q3 RS, was also victorious in the 2-litre to 2.5-litre category, rounding off another very successful International Engine of the Year Awards for the German car maker.

The Fiat Group, owner of the Ferrari brand, demonstrated once again that it is also one of the world’s leading makers of small engines. Its exceptional 1.4-litre, 875cc, two-cylinder turbo CNG engine deservedly won the Green Engine category and secured the first ever awards victory for compressed natural gas technology.

Ford returned to a category win in the Sub 1-litre class for its 999cc, three-cylinder turbo engine. BMW continued its winning ways with two category wins in the 1.4-litre to 1.8-litre category for its 1.6-litre turbo engine, co-developed alongside PSA Peugeot Citroën, and in the 1.8-litre to 2.0-litre category for its 2-litre, twin-turbo, four-cylinder petrol engine.

Porsche made a welcome appearance as a 2013 award winner in the 2-litre to 3-litre category for its superb 2.7-litre DI engine, found in the Boxster and Cayman models. McLaren maintained its honour by securing victory in the 3-litre to 4-litre category for its 3.8-litre V8 engine from the McLaren MP4-12C.

The full list of results is as follows:

International Engine of the Year – Ford 999cc three-cylinder turbo

New Engine – Volkswagen 1.4-litre TSI ACT

Green Engine – Fiat 875cc two-cylinder turbo CNG

Performance Engine – Ferrari 6.3-litre V12

Sub 1-litre – Ford 999cc three-cylinder turbo

1-litre to 1.4-litre – Volkswagen 1.4-litre TSI Twincharger

1.4-litre to 1.8-litre – BMW-PSA 1.6-litre turbo petrol

1.8-litre to 2-litre – BMW 2-litre twin-turbo four-cylinder petrol

2-litre to 2.5-litre – Audi 2.5-litre turbo

2.5-litre to 3-litre – Porsche 2.7-litre DI

3-litre to 4-litre – McLaren 3.8-litre V8

Above 4-litre – Ferrari 6.3-litre V12

Engine Technology Development of the Year – Bosch’s hydraulic hybrid powertrain