Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, Ill., has announced its intention to build small and medium diesel engines in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, China.
The engine campus in Wuxi fits into Caterpillar’s comprehensive global engine strategy, and it is a key element in the rapid establishment of Caterpillar’s business model in China. Caterpillar has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with the Wuxi National High-Tech Industrial Development Zone outlining a significant multi-year investment to develop and manufacture Perkins and Caterpillar branded engines in Wuxi.
The first of the planned engine operations in Wuxi will focus on production of the Perkins 400 Series.
“Opening this engine facility in China will further leverage the global reach of the 400 Series engines, which have become very popular with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) around the world,” says Hans Haefeli, Caterpillar vice president with responsibility for the Industrial Power Systems Division, which includes the Perkins Engines business. “This new facility will make the 400 Series engines more readily available for original equipment manufacturers with operations in China and the Asia Pacific region.”
Perkins Shibaura Engines, a joint venture between Perkins Engines Company Ltd., a Caterpillar company, and its long-time small engine partner, IHI Shibaura Machinery Corp., will manufacture the 400 Series Perkins engines in Wuxi. The engines will be sold primarily to OEMs in Asia who produce small construction, agriculture, turf and material handling machines as well as generator sets.
Caterpillar is also announcing development plans to manufacture medium size diesel engines in Wuxi, and plans to focus engine research and development in Wuxi for engines that meet the emissions requirements for Chinese and other customers. The medium size engines under consideration for production in Wuxi would be used in Caterpillar core construction equipment, for power generation, in commercial marine applications and would be sold to OEMs for agriculture and other industrial uses. Once the engine facilities in Wuxi are fully operational they will have the combined capacity to produce in excess of 100,000 diesel engines per year.
Construction of the engine facilities in Wuxi is subject to a final agreement being reached between Caterpillar and the Wuxi government and to other applicable approvals.
More information is available at www.cat.com.