VANCOUVER, B.C. — Cummins Westport Inc. announced two engine orders from two different cities in China.

The transit fleets in these cities have ordered a total of 40 CWI 195- and 230-horsepower, B series low-emissions natural gas engines for delivery by this summer. One sale is a repeat order while the other is to a new customer in a large city in western China. The two transit agencies operate a total of more than 6,000 buses, about 40 per cent of which are natural gas-powered. These sales validate the performance and value of CWI products to existing customers while demonstrating that new markets in China are rapidly opening up to Cummins Westport technology.

“We are very pleased to see these orders from existing and new customers in China,” said Hugh Foden, President of Cummins Westport Inc. “In the last 18 months, we have added seven new cities to our customer list after our initial sales to Beijing. With more than 160 cities that have populations in excess of 1 million people and serious air quality issues, this region is providing CWI with opportunity for rapid expansion and significant growth.”

CWI is evaluating options to produce its natural gas engines at plants in China. Locally produced engines could potentially be available in the Chinese market in 2005. Locally built engines will provide an increased competitive advantage for CWI.

Explosive growth in the Chinese economy has translated into mass migrations of rural inhabitants into urban centers, putting heavy pressure on city transit operators. To accommodate this growth the new bus market in China has doubled over the past four years and is forecasted to grow another 33 per cent over the next four.

Assisting China’s drive to alternative fuel use is its vast reserves of natural gas with pipeline infrastructure under continual development. The government is committed to improving environmental standards and to rapidly increasing its use of natural gas as an energy alternative. In China, the cost of natural gas is 35 per cent less than the energy equivalent of diesel.