Cummins feels effects of vertical integration

Cummins Inc. has suffered a first-quarter fall in sales which it attributes to weak industry orders and higher dealer inventories.

Cummins, Eaton receive ‘killing’ remark from Daimler

Frank Reintjes, Daimler Trucks’ global head of powertrain and manufacturing, has said that for proprietary, that is independent, suppliers of engines, transmissions and drive axles in North America, the complexity of meeting the operating requirements ‘of all customers and all their different applications, is killing them’. 

I4 engine with the performance of a V8

A research programme in the US is pulling together various technologies to create a four-cylinder engine with the performance of a V8.

Renault probes two-cylinder two-stroke diesel

Some thermodynamic cycles attract powertrain engineers as habitually, they revisit the past in a bid to create the future.

Eaton and the challenge of vertical integration

In the heady world of North American Class 8 trucks, for the likes of Cummins, Eaton and Meritor, life is a constant battle (in engines, transmissions and axles) against the forces of vertical integration that are steadily being imposed by European-controlled OEMs.

Navistar set for more bought-in engines?

The latest twist in developments at Navistar International (see Navistar ditches DT 466 in Class6/7 trucks) suggests the North American truck maker is moving away from vertical integration.

At a time when Class 8 rivals Freightliner, Paccar and Volvo are trying to encourage customers to buy in-house engines, Navistar appears to be edging in the other direction when it began to specify the ISX 15-litre engine from Cummins Inc.

There was a time not so long ago when Navistar was embracing Caterpillar’s 15-litre engine as the way forward towards creating the MaxxForce 15. But this adventure had to be scrapped when it became clear that an EGR-only strategy for the company’s engines was a ‘no go’ area as a means of meeting emissions requirements.