This paper presents a model predictive control (MPC) based on a neural network (NN) model for air/fuel ration (AFR) control of automotive engines. The novelty of the paper is that the severe nonlinearity of the engine dynamics are modelled by a NN to a high precision, and adaptation of the NN model can cope with system uncertainty and time varying effects. A single dimensional optimization algorithm is used in the paper to speed up the optimization so that it can be implemented to the engine fast dynamics. Simulations on a widely used mean value engine model (MVEM) demonstrate effectiveness of the developed method.