According to Cummins Inc., its heavy-duty engine market share in the U.S. grew from 23 to 24% in 2006 to 38% by 2007, reaching 44% in January of this year. In the medium-duty segment, market share climbed from 15% in 2006 to 62% in January. Jeff Jones, Cummins' vp-sales & marketing, pointed to the company's growth in truck-engine market share as a sign of customer confidence with its 2007 emissions-compliant products.
Jim Kelly, president of Cummins' global engine business, said similar results are expected for Cummins' 2010-compliant products, with prototypes scheduled to enter field trials this month. “We believe we have the right technologies for the right engine markets,” he said, pointing out that while Cummins' medium-duty engines will use selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems to reduce oxides of nitrogen to the required levels, heavy-duty models will not.
“It's not about having a foot in each camp,” Kelly stressed. “We believe it's a case where one size does not fit all. Medium-duty trucks return home every night, so re-supplying them with urea [for the SCR system] is relatively easy. For long-haul truckers, the urea supply infrastructure is an issue, so we will rely on advances with in-cylinder EGR [exhaust gas recirculation] to comply with the regulations.”
Steve Charlton, vp-heavy-duty engineering, noted that Cummins' non-SCR engines would be compliant with the regulations without the need to use credits banked from current sales of low-emissions engines.
In addition, Cummins announced that it had received California Air Resources Board (CARB) approval for an exhaust re-routing kit for the ComfortGuard auxiliary power unit (APU). Designed to integrate with the ISX engine and route APU exhaust emissions through the truck's main DPF, the kit will be in production by the end of June. A stand-alone DPF will also be available for Cummins' APU, but has not yet received CARB approval.
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