Cummins V8 wins plaudits in Texas

Cummins Inc. executives will be pleased that their first production application of the ISV5.0 has won plaudits on the back of 2016 Nissan Titan.

The all-new 2016 Nissan Titan XD full-size pickup has been named "Truck of Texas" by the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in its annual 2015 Texas Truck Rodeo, which puts the industry's best truck, SUVs and CUVs through a grueling two-day evaluation at the historic Knibbe Ranch in Spring Branch, Texas.

The Cummins 5-litre V8 engine is the company’s first production application of an engine with a compacted graphite iron (CGI) vee cylinder block.

In addition to the competition's top award, Truck of Texas, the new Titan XD won three other honors: Luxury Pickup Truck of Texas, Off-Road Pickup Truck of Texas and Best Powertrain for its standard Cummins 5-litre V8 turbo diesel engine.

The new 2016 Titan XD is set to go on sale at Nissan dealers nationwide in December.

Nissan also took home the Mid-Size CUV of Texas trophy for its completely redesigned 2015 Nissan Murano.

"Of the hundreds of thousands of miles driven during the development of the all-new 2016 Titan XD, the miles driven by the truck experts of the Texas Auto Writers Association were the most critical miles driven to date as we prepare to launch our new truck," said Fred Diaz, senior vice president, sales & marketing and operations, USA, Nissan North America, Inc.

"This prestigious Truck of Texas award gives us tremendous validation heading into the Titan XD launch in December. We are humbly honored to accept this award."

In announcing the Truck of Texas award, the Titan XD was cited for its strong performance and also received high marks for its interior and exterior. "This was the largest Truck Rodeo in the history of TAWA," said Mike Marrs, president, TAWA. "We had 69 journalists evaluating 80 vehicles. To win on this stage, with this level of competition is an accomplishment Nissan should be very proud of."

Cummins execs will be hoping that this is just a foretaste of things to come for an engine that, for one reason or another, has been a long time in coming to production. Toyota is likely the next pick-up truck manufacturer to enter full production with the new engine.