The Tritec joint venture was originally set up in the late 1990s to provide BMW with engines for its MINI range and for Chrysler, which is now 20 percent owned by Fiat Group, for its PT Cruiser, through the manufacturing a new family of efficient and cost-effective 1.4 and 1.6 litre engines for use in external markets. BMW professed itself unhappy with the capability of the units and phased them out of the MINI line-up (fitted only in selected markets) when it backed out of the venture three years ago, selling its shares to Daimler for an undisclosed amount. Chrysler at the time had wanted a new range of small engines but in the meantime Germany's Daimler took over Chrysler, rebranding the entity as DaimlerChrysler, and Tritec suddenly no longer provided a fit. Daimler too were uninterested and left the factory in the hands of Chrysler when it unpinned itself from the U.S. carmaker and passed its majority shareholding of ailing firm onto a venture capitalist.

There was some interest shown in buying Tritec from Russia's OAO AvtoVAZ and China's Chongqing Lifan (the Tritec engine was also exported to China for use in two models built by another Chinese firm, Chery Automobile) but with Fiat expanding rapidly in Brazil, it appeared a good fit, and Tritec was sold to FPT in 2008 with the Italian firm making an 83 million investment. "The purchase of the industrial unit at Campo Largo will allow the company to reach two important strategic objectives, the enlargement of the current range of Fiat engines and increasing further our sales for new potentially customers," the CEO of FPT Alfredo Altavilla said at the time of the purchase in March 2008.

Now FPT has developed the engines for use in several models built at the giant factory in Betim, to be sold across Brazil and the wider region. First up comes the Punto MY2011 with the Siena and Linea sedans both scheduled to receive the units in the near future. It may appear in the Palio Weekend also, but this isn't confirmed.

The E.torQ 1.6 16V Flex has 117 hp of maximum power at 5,500 revolutions and maximum torque at 16.8 kgfm at 4,500 rpm with ethanol and 115 hp with torque of 16.2 kgfm when supplied with 100% gasoline, while the E.torQ 1.8 16V comes with 132 hp at 5,250 rpm and torque of 18.9 kgfm at 4,500 revolutions with ethanol (130 hp with 18.4 kgfm when supplied with gasoline).

The E.torQ 1.6 16V version, when fitted in the, Punto Essence MY2011, generates 13.55 kgfm, that is, 81% of its maximum force: at 1,500 revolutions, when supplied with ethanol. Immediately above this, at 2,500 revolutions, E.torQ 1.6 16V has already reached 92% of its total force. This feature is also present in E.torQ 1.8 16V, in the Essence and Sporting versions. Immediately above 2,500 revolutions, the 1.8 16V version presents elevated 17.50 kgfm of force, which represents 93% of the maximum torque with 100% ethanol, ensuring quick accelerations and tranquility in overtakings.

The secret behind this performance is this engine family’s modernity, which offers high mechanical efficiency, thanks to the reduced weight of moving parts, aiming for high torque, improved fuel economy, noise and vibration level reduction, smoothness of operation, besides low pollutant emission levels.

Technology features of the new E.torQ family include: sintered, forged and fractured connecting rods that are amongst those with least mass in the market for this cubic capacity range and they offer absolute assembly precision and high resistance; the low friction rings are of a low tangential load and are also among those with least mass in the market for this cubic capacity range which allows the engine to be more efficient; the optimised and graphitised pistons with lesser weight and asymmetric skirts minimise friction with the cylinders while the reinforced hub maximises resistance; the combustion chamber with low surface/volume ratio provides decrease of combustion time and greater thermal efficiency which results in performance gains and drop in consumption; the drive-by-wire throttle body with contactless sensor eliminates mechanical contact between the sensor’s internal components, which acts to conserve perfect engine functioning in the course of its entire useful life; the plastic aspiration collector is of a lighter material and it favors standardisation of flow to the four cylinders, besides optimising performance and reducing load losses; the plastic cylinder head cover means less weight; the distribution current eliminates the need for periodic maintenances; the hydraulic tappets do not need maintenance / regulation. the crankshaft with special microstructure and with eight counterweights assure greater stress resistance, smooth functioning and it’s quieter; the aluminum structural carter provides greater structural firmness to the engine propeller; and the ecological filters mean only the paper and rubber filtering element is changed, taking advantage of the remaining structure.