Could Paccar build a 15-litre truck diesel?

Is it possible that Paccar Inc. will develop a 15-litre heavy-duty truck diesel engine for the North American market, one that can match Cummins' ISX15?

Tear-downs: paving the way for CGI growth

How will OEMs respond to Ford’s 2015 F-150 pick-up truck with its intensive use of aluminium and a gasoline engine with a CGI block?

Caterpillar bolsters Peterlee production

Caterpillar, based in Peterlee, east Durham, has bolstered its production line with new articulated dump trucks and bare-chassis models.

Although the vehicles are additions to the existing range of heavy industry trucks it is understood no new jobs have been created in the work.

Ubisense wins another Smart order

Ubisense plc of Cambridge, UK, a market leader in real time location intelligence solutions, has announced that a ‘large European automotive manufacturer’ has deployed its Smart Factory System to another of its production lines.

Ubisense declines to name the customer but it acknowledges that Aston Martin, BMW, Cummins and Fiat are key amongst its customer base. On the basis of this the new order could be from BMW.

The order, valued at approximately €700,000 is part of a global framework agreement with the manufacturer that covers more than 100 sites and this represents the fourth installation since production acceptance was granted in July this year.

Navistar ditches DT466 in Class 6/7 trucks

Behind the news that Navistar International has had to endure a third quarter loss of $247 million and the subsequent loss of 500 jobs, is the admission the company is blaming much of the financial loss on its transition to the use of Selective Catalytic Converters (SCR) for engines powering its medium and heavy duty trucks.

Navistar president and chief executive officer Troy Clarke admitted: “This includes resizing our company to match our current business environment.”

He added: "We still face a few significant challenges, but we have laid the groundwork to solve them, and obviously, we want to accelerate our rate of progress."

Truck turbine pioneer dies

Noel Penny, best known the world over for his pioneering work in the development of truck gas turbine engines, died last Friday at the age of 87.

Penny most notably received recognition as managing director of Leyland Gas Turbines Ltd (LGT); it developed the two-shaft gas turbine engine with regenerative heat exchangers between 1968 and 1974. Prototype vehicles were used by several oil companies for route proving and demonstration.

In the 1960s and 1970s, companies such as Chrysler, Fiat, Ford, General Motors, MAN and Mercedes-Benz were all working to develop gas turbine engines for passenger cars and trucks. The concept proved unsuccessful, largely because of its high fuel economy. It was unable to challenge the specific fuel economy of a diesel.  More recently, Volvo has devoted some development effort to gas turbines for trucks.

Clarke to head Navistar as CEO

Troy Clarke has been appointed chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Navistar International Corporation.

Clarke assumes responsibility on 15 April when he replaces Lewis Campbell, 66, chairman and interim CEO since last August. Clarke has been president and chief operating officer of Navistar.

Campbell withdrew from retirement from Textron Inc. to assume the senior post at Navistar. Campbell’s role has been to define a new course for the company and Clarke’s role has been to implement these changes.