Cummins thriving despite market downturn, company reports

by James Menzies

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – While most truck makers and engine manufacturers continue to reel from a steep drop in sales following record volumes in 2006, the outlook is not so gloomy for Cummins.

The company said its North American engine plants are operating at near capacity, and that increases in market share have helped offset losses related to the softening economy and last year’s pre-buy.

The company said it is ramping up capacity at both its Jamestown, N.Y. and Rocky Mount, N.C. engine plants to accommodate future growth.

Jeff Jones, vice-president of sales and market communications with Cummins, recently told trade press editors that Cummins has reached an unprecedented market share of more than 30% in the mid-range segment.

That’s largely due to a doubling of the company’s market share in PACCAR trucks, where Cummins mid-range engines compete only with PACCAR’s own medium-duty powerplants.

By the end of August, Cummins had built nearly 23,000 EPA07-compliant ISB, ISC and ISL mid-range engines, Jones reported. The 2007 engines had racked up more than 20 million miles, thanks largely to orders of more than 1,000 units each for rental fleets Penske and Ryder.

Jones said “the report card from these discerning customers so far is excellent.”

On the heavy-duty side, by late summer Cummins had accumulated more than 150 million miles on its 2007 engines, mostly on long-haul applications.

The company has built more than 21,000 heavy-duty 07 engines, Jones said.

He pointed out Cummins heavy-duty market share reached 36% – an 8% improvement over last year.

He added the company’s market share averaged 44% over the past four months.

“These gains are across all sectors including owner/operator, the premium fleet segment and within the top 100 large LTL and TL fleets,” said Jones.

Cummins reported its 07 engines are equal to or better than previous generation engines where fuel economy is concerned. Jones added the DPF and crankcase breather have had a “minimal” impact on service intervals.

The company also raved about the reliability of its 07 engines.

Its Uptime Guarantee program, which covers the cost of a rental vehicle for customers who experience downtime, has required Cummins to foot the bill for only three rental trucks since the 07 engines were rolled out, said Jones.

“Cummins has delivered what we said we would do,” he concluded.


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