GM is going to be producing a new engine for the upcoming Colorado, which is the replacement of the S-trucks. I know that other automakers have made 5 cylinder engines before (Audi, VW off the top of my head) but I am not aware of a North American mfg producing a 5 cylinder before. Is it a first?
Honda produced one too, used in the Vigor here in the States.
I don’t recall a North American I-5 but I suspect one was produced way back when, in the earlier days of autos.
Uh, Ford does. At my plant in fact. Well, we don’t put them in vehicles, though. But the I4 version does get used. They were building them back in April 2000 at least.
As I understand it, DaimlerChrysler manufactures an I5 turbodiesel for export Jeeps.
OK, you got me Balthisar: What does Ford do with engines other put them in vehicles?
The only inline 5 that I am aware of are:
VW/Audi (gas and diesel)
Honda
Volvo (again both a gas and diesel) Used in 850/S70/S60/XC90.
SmackFu-
“What does Ford do with engines other put them in vehicles?”
My guess is, they ship them overseas where someone else puts them in vehicles 
-Andrew L
Is the engine from Ford the one used by Volvo? If they do doesn’t that count as Ford using the engine?
Well, the new engine plant was designed to make I4 and I5 engines on the same line – flexible automation and all that. They were intended for light trucks. I think the I4 goes into the Ranger, and the only I5’s go into prototype vehicles (that’s if they still run them). Since I don’t work in that department I don’t know what else they would do with them. It’s highly possible it’s the same engine – just not the same plant – as the Volvo, since this line is supposedly a rubber-stamp duplicate of three or so others in the world.
If you want to know about steel fuel tanks, I can definitely tell you what happens to those.