Poland is emerging as one of the world's leading places from where green and fuel efficient engines are born. Toyota's 1-liter engine which is presently performing duties on the Aygo small car, won the International engine of the year award a while back. That engine was also developed in Poland giving us strong hints that Poland should be one of the best countries for developing and manufacturing small engines.

Italian manufacturer Fiat has put its hand up and decided to manufacture a low emission 900cc gasoline engine in Poland. Unlike any of the engines present in European cars today, this one would be the smallest of the lot with only 2 cylinders. The new engine will give life to Fiat's new microcar, the Topolino->ke3168, when launched late next year for European markets.

Sufficient engine options will be on offer for the Topolino, ranging from a 65hp normally aspirated version to a turbcharged 110hp version equipped with Fiat's Multiair adjustable valve timing (110hp from a 900 c.c engine?!) which promises to be powerful yet frugal. I guess there are more reasons for Mercedes and Toyota to worry about as the Topolino is likely to be another massive hit.

One can expect to see this engine in cars like the 500, Grande Punto and Panda a few years from now on, especially with the emission norms getting tougher, the idea of a 2-cylinder and sub-100 gram per kilometer of CO2 emission engine is definitely a bright one.

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