The Dongfeng Cummins Engine Company Limited, a 50-50 joint venture between Cummins Inc. and Dongfeng Motor Corporation (DFM), is celebrating a significant milestone by producing its one millionth engine. The engine, a Cummins ISLe to be installed in a Dongfeng heavy-duty Tianlong truck, stresses the companies' engine partnership that started in Chine in 1986.
"Today's celebration is not only a significant milestone for DCEC but also a pivotal moment for both Cummins and DFM," said Steve Chapman, the Group Vice President - Emerging Markets and Businesses. "We could not have reached this achievement without the vision and hard work of many people at DFM and Cummins who together have created one of the most successful partnerships in the industry."
DCEC also celebrated the completion of the prototype model of a new 13-liter engine being developed as part of a joint effort launched last year, and showcased the company's full line of Euro III-compliant engines, ranging in size from 4.5 liters to 8.9 liters. The fully electronic 13-liter engine flaunts a power range from 400 to 545 horsepower. It is primarily designed to be used in heavy-duty trucks above 40 tons gross weight. Additionally, it showcases Cummins' state-of-the-art technology that will make it capable of meeting future emission standards in global heavy duty markets. The engine is expected to be ready for production in 2009, the company said.
"Working with Cummins offers us invaluable access to best-in-class engines and components," said Xu Ping, the general manager of DFM. "Cummins has been vital in building our position in the China market as a leading truck maker, as well as in our efforts to penetrate into the international markets." Critics in China said that the joint venture is expected to produce cutting-edge product lines and auto parts like the .
DFM, China's leading auto maker, first licensed Cummins engine technology in 1986. A decade after, the two companies created the DCEC joint venture. In addition to the engine joint ventures, Cummins and DFM also are partners in a filtration operation in Shanghai and an exhaust product joint venture in Xiangfan. The venture also built a technical center in Wuhan.
DFM, founded in 1969, is one of China's three largest automakers with a product line that includes light-duty, mid-range and heavy-duty commercial vehicles, components and passenger cars. The Wuhan, Hubei Province-based automaker produced 932,000 vehicles in the previous year and that is an increase of 28 percent from 2005. In 2006, DFM became China's leading truck-maker.
Cummins, a global power leader, is the biggest foreign investor in the China diesel engine industry. Its ventures in China date back over three decades to 1975 when then-CEO J. Irwin Miller spearheaded the first Cummins delegation to China as part of a deal to sell 14 KV12 engines to a mining customer. At present, Cummins operates more than 20 facilities in China - including 13 manufacturing sites - with all areas of the Company's business represented in China.
