Posted on 7/26/2006, 5:48:18 PM by eraser2005
Company to partner with major automotive manufacturer
COLUMBUS, IND. - Cummins Inc. (NYSE:CMI) today announced it has reached agreement with a major automotive manufacturer serving the North American market to produce and market a light-duty, diesel-powered engine. For competitive reasons, Cummins original equipment manufacturer partner in the venture has asked to remain confidential.
As part of the agreement, Cummins will develop and manufacture a family of high-performance, light-duty diesel engines for a variety of automotive applications in vehicles below 8,500 pounds gross vehicle weight, including standard pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles. Certain bus, marine and industrial applications also will be served by this engine family.
The first vehicles with this engine are expected to be ready for market by the end of the decade. Cummins anticipates that this diesel engine will provide an average of 30 percent fuel savings, depending on the drive cycle, over gasoline-powered engines for comparable vehicles.
(Excerpt) Read more at cummins.com ...
Was Cummins the origin of that?
Well, the DCX partnership runs out in 2007, and they've been making noises about using the Mercedes truck diesels in the Ram instead. However, it'd be a stupid marketing move in the North American market.
I don't think it's DCX. They'd have no reason to not trumpet the relationship.
The Ford/Navistar deal has many years to run, so I don't see that happening. GM is too deep in bed with Isuzu for them to change either.
My guess? Nissan or Toyota, with the edge to Nissan since Nissan has announced a Titan 2500 for 08/09. I'd heard they were in discussions with Caterpillar, but DCX might have pissed off Cummins.
My brother has a Dodge pickup with a Cummings diesel engine.
Pulls like a mule.
No, Mercedes has its own tech. All the diesels in the DCX lineup, with one glaring exception, are Mercedes units, or Mercedes derived.
That one exception is the Cummins Turbo Diesel in the 2500/3500-class Dodge Rams. My guess is that Mercedes is going to replace that, too.
That's a reasonable assumption - Mercedes has plenty of light-duty diesel experience... and why go outside the company if you don't need to...
Yeah, it makes sense that way, but in terms of marketing it doesn't. They've spent twenty years in building up the Dodge Ram/Cummins Turbo Diesel relationship in everyone's minds, and now they're going to throw it away.
That said, Nissan getting the Cummins is exactly what they need to break the HD pickup market wide open. A Nissan's percieved quality and design advantages with a Cummins powertrain that everyone trusts is going to be a hard, hard combination to beat - especially since Ford won't use the International or Navistar branding on *their* engines, due to corporate pride (and perhaps a couple of agreements).
I think you're probably right with DCX.
Ford's Navistar contract runs through 2012, but they've already cancelled half their contracts (the V6s) with Navistar due to warranty complaints on the Navistar V8s. Reports are $50 million in warranty claims in two years on those Navistars. Ford may be willing to cough up another chunk of cash to get out of their current deal, especially as it is delaying the release of new models.
Toyota doesn't seem to be in a race to build diesels - Nissan or Honda may be a better bet, IMO...
All aluminum 5.5 liter Audi TDI V12. 650 horsepower, 811 lb-ft. of torque
Ford owns a substantial stake in Cummins
I couldn't tell what market segment they're intending to go after. You're right that the idea of a "new market in which Cummins does not currently participate" implies something other than trucks. But other references I've seen seem to imply that they'll still be in the V6/V8 engines intended for large vehicles (ie, trucks)...
It would be far more interesting if they were doing diesels for cars... :)
GM and Isuzu have contracts going far into the future. Most of the "GM" medium trucks are Isuzus.
Nissan could also take advantage of Cummins diesels in cars, but it's far more likely that Cummins is going to make a diesel for a small pickup, like the Frontier, IMHO.
It's not likely to be DCX. They already have some of the best light duty diesel tech around on the Mercedes side.
Ford has some pretty decent diesel tech in Europe, and they're already working on bringing some of that here, for use in the F-150 and SUVs.
It could well be GM. They have Isuzu, and some Opel diesels, but they seem to be the most lacking in the diesel area of the domestic manufacturers.
Or, it could be Toyota. They need help on the diesel side.
Thanks. I've a friend who swears by cummins engines. This person will be interested in this info.
No, they don't. That POS urban legend keeps going around.
http://www.cummins.com/cmi/content.jsp?siteId=1&langId=1033&menuId=6&overviewId=29&anchorId=30&menuIndex=4&index=0#Q27
My guess is one of the Japanese makers currently manufacturing here.
Will be nice to have some smaller diesels in a wider cross section of cars and lighter trucks.
What's the deal with emissions hurdles to overcome?
Which is ironic, since most of the warranty complaints on the Navistars are due to the Ford engine management gear grafted onto it.
The 6L International diesel does just fine in medium trucks and doesn't have the problems that the Powerstroke version does. The only real difference is that Ford doesn't use the International controls, they use their own.
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