Cummins history in China!

As we all know, as one of the best engine brands in the commercial vehicle industry, Cummins celebrated its 100th birthday in 2019. In order to build momentum, clever marketers have held relevant activities in Cummins branches around the world, “Cummins, Centennial, The trip to the United States in China” also came into being.

Activity logo that means seeking diversified development opportunities

An international brand started in a mill

Let’s turn the pointer back to 102 years, when the founder, Clacy Cummins, was just a driver for banker William Owen, obsessed with the charm of diesel engines, in 1918, after work He rented a 5,000-square-foot warehouse at a grain mill in Indiana for research.

Maybe it was because of Clacy’s spirit of hard work that moved William, or maybe it was because William simply thought Clacy drove well. With financial support, Cummins was formally incorporated in Columbus, Indiana, USA.

In the following ten years, with the support of William Owen’s stable financial resources, Cummins continued to expand and consolidate its position in the field of diesel engines:

“In 1924, Cummins’ first self-designed direct-injection engine, the F-type engine, began production; in 1928, the U-type engine began production, marking Cummins’ official entry into the field of automotive power; in 1929, the single-disc fuel system came out, Provide injection pressure for diesel engines, which can be understood as the early high-pressure common rail; in 1929, the K-type engine began to run, mainly for industrial, fixed equipment and offshore markets; in 1932, H672 began production, which made Cummins completely open up North American commercial trucks market gate

Despite William’s supporting, Cummins didn’t turn a profit for the first time until 1937, after hedging against high product development costs, meaning they had been losing money for the previous 18 years.

After starting to make a profit, Cummins chose to pursue the victory. Through a series of marketing methods such as the establishment of a diesel worker union, a replacement of a more recognizable brand logo, and a public offering, Cummins’ market share and revenue continued to increase.

In 1958, Cummins opened its first overseas factory in Scotland, and its origins with China began at about the same time.

In wartime fish and water is the foundation of marriage

Speaking of the first contact between Cummins and China, it goes back to before the founding of New China.

On March 11, 1941, due to the signing of the Lend-Lease Act, a large number of patrol boats and military trucks equipped with Cummins engines began to be introduced into China; in 1944, after enjoying the nourishment of high-horsepower engines, Chongqing began to covet Cummins technology. , and issued a letter of intent to seek cooperation, but due to well-known reasons, the cooperation can only be postponed.

The first contact between Cummins and China came to an abrupt end, and it has been 30 years since the second contact between the two.

In the 1970s, China had just established diplomatic relations with the United States, ending the abnormal state of In terms of production and transportation, Cummins is also one of the first American companies to conduct business in China since the reform and opening up.

Soon, the mining trucks equipped with Cummins high-horsepower diesel engines were widely loved by the workers at that time, and even reached the point where they would not work without Cummins, and they all begged their superiors to increase purchases.

But is it really as simple as the workers think?

We all know that the price of imported products has always been relatively high. If the import volume of Cummins engines is increased, it will undoubtedly increase the additional burden on China, which was at the beginning of opening up and had tight foreign exchange.

However, the advantages of the Cummins engine are obvious to all, and it coincides with the early stage of reform and opening up, so the Chinese side boldly put forward a request to Cummins to introduce technology and realize localized production.

On January 25, 1981, under the mediation of the governments of both sides, as a key import project in the engine field in China’s sixth five-year plan, Sinotruk and Cummins signed a technology introduction agreement for related products, and the subsidiary of Sinotruk. Chongqing Automobile Engine Factory began to produce Cummins 10-50 liter high-horsepower diesel engine products, which is also the first official cooperation between the two.

So far, China has finally brought Cummins, the “foreign daughter-in-law” home, and the dowry it brought has also provided a lot of help for the development of China’s engine business in the later period.

The Cummins department is blooming in China

Dongfeng Cummins DCEC

The first to find a foreign daughter-in-law was the Dongfeng Second Automobile.

It may be because of the closely between Hubei and Chongqing. After seeing that the Chongqing Automobile Engine Factory started to produce Cummins products and gradually realized profits, FAW began to wonder if it could follow their example and expand its business.

In 1984, the Second Automobile Group decided to introduce the B/C series medium-horsepower (3.9-8.3 liter) engines that Cummins had just released for a year. I guess, it just wanted to replenish blood for itself, who had just ended years of losses.

Two years later, on November 15, 1986, FAW decided to strike while the iron was hot and signed a B-series diesel engine product and manufacturing technology license transfer contract with Cummins in the Fujian Hall of the Great Hall of the People.

On June 30, 1990, the first Cummins B-series engine was successfully rolled off the production line at Dongfeng Diesel Engine Plant, which also made the later pillar product of the Second Automobile Group—Baping Chai EQ153 gain a strong heart, and take this as the foundation. He earned the reputation of “plain little plane” by himself.

Although the cooperation between the two has gone through more than ten years, the real joint venture was still in June 1996.

At that time, it was because the production technology license of the B-series engine was about to expire, and FAW did not want to lose Cummins as a good partner because of the big sale of Baping Diesel. The contract expands the scope of cooperation.

Today, Dongfeng Cummins has an annual production capacity of 214,000 units, mainly producing Cummins B, C series mechanical and ISDe, ISLe, ISZ series fully electronically controlled diesel engines, capable of producing 4.5-13L engine products with a power coverage of 103- 412kw (140-560 hp).

Chongqing Cummins CCEC

Let’s go back to 1993, when Cummins’ business sales in China reached an astonishing 160 million US dollars, which means that China became the third largest Cummins after the United Kingdom and Canada. Overseas markets have also stimulated Cummins’ confidence in continuing to develop the Chinese market to a certain extent.

In order to seek stability, they found the Chongqing engine factory that they had cooperated with for the first time. Both parties planned to continue to expand the production scale: on the one hand, China hopes that the high-tech of international brands can be more solidly localized production; on the other hand, Cummins hopes that the Chinese market can bring them greater benefits.

In this way, the two parties completed another cooperation signing with their own reasons – in October 1995, Cummins and China National Heavy-Duty Truck officially signed the “Chongqing Cummins Engine Co., Ltd.” joint venture contract in Beijing.

If the introduction of production in 1981 counts as a love affair, then this joint venture is even a formal marriage license. Chongqing Cummins is also the first engine factory in China to establish a joint venture with Cummins, which gave the Second Automobile a good start at that time.

Chongqing Cummins mainly produces high-horsepower and large-displacement engines, including heavy-duty high-horsepower engines and generator sets with a displacement of 11-50L, with a power range of 175-2000 horsepower. Has a good market share.

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CCEC, China, Cummins, DCEC, Diesel Engine, engine spare parts, factory

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