View video from the Cummins news conference here.
LOUISVILLE, KY. While the meat of its news conference here last evening was devoted to the progress of its new EPA2010-compliant engines on their way to full production, Cummins Inc. also publicly passed the baton of leadership of its Engine Business from outgoing chief Jim Kelly to incoming president Rich Freeland.
Addressing the media ahead of this week’s Mid-America Trucking Show, Kelly gave a sort of valedictory relating the substantial progress the engine unit has made of late before turning the podium over to Freeland.
“Cummins had a terrific year in ’09,” Kelly began. “Despite a 25% decline in year-over-year earnings, we still raised revenues and we restructured the heavy-duty business.
“And [in 2010] we are very bullish about our prospects,” he continued. “By 2012, we will meet or exceed our record revenues of 2008.” Kelly noted that this confidence is due in part to outstanding results in the company’s China, India and Brazil markets, which he said are now “surpassing pre-recession levels.”
Turning to the domestic market, Kelly pointed out that Cummins is heartened by “very positive” early performance results from its new line of 2010 engines, noting the engines have undergone extensive field-testing in 200 vehicles operated by 86 customers over 8 million miles.
“The performance has shown [to the point] it is actually fun to put drivers in the seats of these trucks,” said Kelly. “[Test] data shows the reliability is there and the fuel economy—of up to 5%--is as well.”
Freeland pointed out that the 2010 engines will be available in 180 vehicle installation applications thanks to extensive collaboration with over 60 vehicle manufacturers.
“The work that our teams have accomplished demonstrates the commitment that Cummins has to our OEM partners,” he said. “The range of vehicle applications with Cummins 2010 engines reaffirms our ability to deliver the best products and support to our customers.”
“The same rigorous testing and product validation are done regardless of the application in which the engine will be installed,” said Sean Milloy, chief technical officer for Cummins Engine Business.
“The data that we are collecting from our internal product testing, coupled with the feedback from our customers, is validating that our 2010 engines are delivering on our promises [for performance, reliability and fuel economy], and there are cases where the results are even better,” said Jeff Jones, vp- sales & market communications.
According to the engine maker, its 2010 offerings incorporate an enhanced cooled exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system, a single VGT turbocharger and the Cummins Aftertreatment System with selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology, which provides near-zero emissions.
Cummins also stated:
The ISX15 is fully EPA- and ARB-certified and is for Class 8 on-highway trucks that require the performance of a big-bore engine. The ISX15 features the new Cummins Xtra-High Pressure Injection (XPI) fuel system, which is able to produce extremely high pressure independent of engine speed. The Cummins proprietary fuel system enables controlled fuel injection events and is instrumental in achieving up to 5% better fuel economy than the previous model.
The mid-range lineup for on-highway applications includes the ISB6.7, ISC8.3 and the ISL9, for such applications as medium-duty truck, shuttle bus, school bus, and fire-and-emergency vehicles.
The ISX11.9 rounds out the product portfolio for on-highway applications and will enter full production in August.
The 2010 engines (other than the ISX11.9) entered full production in January. To date, the engine maker stated it has produced 2,500 EPA-certified 2010 engines at its plants in Jamestown, NY, and Rocky Mount, NC.
