New engine development completes £41m investment programme for JCB
Staffordshire excavator manufacturer JCB has invested £41m into the development of a new engine and associated component products.
Production of a brand-new fuel-efficient engine follows the culmination of a £31m investment programme.
JCB announced in 2011 that it was launching a new engine development project with the help of £4.5m from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund.
The result of that investment is the new three litre engine. It is the third engine line to be launched by JCB since it began producing its own engines in 2004.
Graeme Macdonald, CEO, JCB, said: “It is hard to believe that, just over 12 years ago, JCB didn’t make engines. Today JCB has produced 400,000 high-performance diesel engines, leading the way with a purpose-built range which saves fuel, is clean and highly efficient.
“The launch of the brand new three litre JCB430 DieselMax engine will build on the success of the JCB Power Systems business and takes the productivity and environmental performance of our engines to a completely new level, particularly on fuel efficiency.”
The new three litre DieselMax engine is one of the company’s most efficient, using up to 8% less fuel than the 4.4 litre power unit.
The new engine is also 30% lighter than the 4.4 litre EcoMax engine and has been designed specifically for mid-range construction and industrial equipment operating cycles.
The company’s Power Systems division has also invested £10m in its UK engine plant as it gears up to begin full production of cylinder heads and blocks for the first time.
The factory, based in Foston, Derbyshire has installed new CNC machining centres and associated automated processes at the site. The investment will also give the company the capacity to produce 45,000 engine sets a year.
Alan Tolley, JCB Group Director for Engines, said: “The multi-million pound investment in machining in-house gives us direct control over specification, quality and cost of the major components. This is a major step forward for JCB Power Systems and an important piece of the jigsaw that keeps us producing class-leading engines at competitive cost.”
