Ford will begin production this week of the most powerful diesel engine ever installed in a heavy-duty pickup, Barb Samardzich, vice president of powertrain engineering, said today in a statement released here at the CAR Management Briefing Seminars.

Dealers will make sure pickup buyers who purchased Ford's brawniest truck over the last four months get the power boost, too.

The 6.7-liter Power Stroke V-8 turbocharged diesel powering the 2011 Ford F-Series Super Duty, introduced in April, will be upgraded to 800 lbs.-ft. of torque and 400 horsepower, an increase of 65 lbs.-ft. of torque and 10 horsepower.

Ford's powerplant had fallen behind a competing engine offered on General Motors Co.'s heavy-duty pickups. The Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD and GMC Sierra 3500HD come with an optional Duramax 6.6-liter turbodiesel V-8 that puts out 397 hp and 765 lbs.-ft. of torque. Now the F-350 Super Duty can reclaim bragging rights in those categories.

Fuel economy is expected to improve at least another 2 percent, making the 2011 F-Series Super Duty 6.7-liter Power Stroke diesel a full 20 percent more fuel efficient than the 2010 version. The improved torque and horsepower mean that a driver can get to a higher gear faster and stay in it longer, both of which aid fuel economy.

Besides selling the upgraded engine in new Super Duty pickups, Ford will provide the upgrades free to all current owners of a Super Duty diesel pickup. Customers will receive letters explaining the procedure -- a 30-minute software adjustment to the pickup's powertrain control module -- and inviting them to visit their dealerships for the upgrade.

The upgrade program will begin by Aug. 31 and continue for the next 12 months. All 2011 Super Duty diesel pickups in dealer inventory also will receive the upgrade.

Marc Cross, co-owner of Jordan Ford in San Antonio, Texas, endorsed the program in a statement.

“It's human nature to say, ‘Darn, I should have waited,'” Cross said in the Ford statement. “But with this program, there's no penalty for being an early adopter, so to speak.”