News

2021-03-30

Q4 2020 North American Gen-Set Outlook

The Q4 2020 PSR PowerTracker survey provides information on North American gen-set sales from manufacturers, consumers and retailers. Joe Zirnhelt, Power Systems Research, President and CEO, provides the analysis.

Transcript

Welcome to the PSR PowerTALK podcast, produced by Power Systems Research.

00:06 Joe Zirnhelt:

From Power Systems Research, I am Joe Zirnhelt. In today’s PowerTALK podcast we will discuss results from the fourth quarter of 2020 based on our ongoing PowerTracker survey.

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2021-03-23

DATAPOINT: Global Snowmobiles, 2021 Production, 107,250 Units

107,250 units is the estimate by Power Systems Research of the number of Snowmobiles to be produced in Canada, Finland, Italy, Japan, and the U.S. in 2021.

This information comes from industry interviews and from two proprietary databases maintained by Power Systems Research: EnginLink™ , which provides information on engines, and OE Link™, a database of equipment manufacturers.

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2021-03-22

Production of Diesel Engines Started in Kaluga

PSMA Rus plant, located in Kaluga, Russia, has made first testing sample of ned DV6 motor.

First engine was produced in February. Engine production in the plant was set according to obligations for product localization, written in the contract with Russian government.

Turbocharged DV6-EL engines have 1,6-liter volume. They will be set to LCV models, produced on Kaluga’s plant.

PSMA plant in Kaluga makes Peugeot, Citroen, Mitsubishi cars for Russian market. The production started in 2010.

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PSR Analysis. If the project succeeds, it will be smallest mass produced diesel engine in Russia. Whereas EU countries are trying to cut off diesel powertrain production, Russia invites it into the country.   PSR

2021-03-20

Norway May Block Acquisition of Bergen Engines Plant

Maxim Sakov
Maxim Sakov

The Department of National Security of Norway may block the purchase of engine OEM Bergen Engines belonging to Rolls-Royce by Russian Transmash-Holding. According to Justice Minister of Norway Monica Melan, the acquisition may be a threat to national security. The deal is estimated at €150 million. According to the minister, it’s necessary to suspend a deal to collect information for making a final decision.

Bergen Engines was founded in 1946. Since then, the company delivered more than 7,000 engines, 5,000 of them still operating. Current personnel number is 900 people.

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KAMAZ JV Will Invest in Mass Production of Equipment

The joint venture of KAMAZ and ZF Friedrichshafen AG is going to establish mass production of 12-speed automated gearboxes Traxon for trucks, buses and special machines with 44-80 ton capacity. At the moment, the JV is offering mechanical transmissions only. According to the plan, the production of gearboxes will be localized on 24%, power steering, by 10%, suspensions, by 40%. New products will be supplied to KAMAZ trucks, as well as to other OEMs – MAZ-MAN, Ural, Isuzu, etc.

The total budget of the new project will be US$ 15 million (1.1 billion Rubles). About half of it will be provided by the Industry Development fund as a privileged loan.

The privileged loan will be provided by the fund on 1-3% interest rates for up to seven years.

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PSR Analysis: There is a long history of co-operation between KAMAZ and German ZF. Now, with the State support, they are going to offer to the market brand new equipment, which was not available on domestic trucks before.  PSR

Maxim Sakov is a Market Consultant – Russia Operations with Power Systems Research

Semiconductor Shortage Restricts Growth of Indian Auto Industry

Aditya Kondejkar

As the industry is coming out from the COVID impact, its growth is hurt by a shortage of semiconductors. Many OEMs have revised the production plans downward due to this shortage. We anticipate the shortage of semiconductors will exist for the next 4-5 months. Though it will hamper monthly production, it will have only a moderate impact on the total year’s production. But If the chip shortage lasts, production cuts could reduce the inventory of vehicles for sale in India and overseas markets.

The issue started in the Q2 2020. Due to COVID-19, auto OEMs worldwide drastically reduced their production and component orders. Concurrently, chipmakers were improving the supply chain, which had been disrupted by COVID-19. They witnessed a spurt in orders from electronics companies for items such as phones, laptops, gaming console makers and witnessed a spike in sales volume during the pandemic caused by changing work and school patterns.

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China and South Korea Increase Investment in Indonesia

Akihiro Komuro
Akihiro Komuro

China and South Korea are increasing their investments in Indonesia. According to BKPM (Indonesia’s Investment Coordination Agency), China (including Hong Kong) accounted for $8.4 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2020, up 11% from the previous year, and South Korea accounted for $1.8 billion, up 64%.

Japan, which has been the driving force behind investment to date, has seen a clear decline of 40% to $2.6 billion. Singapore ranked first in FDI in 2020 with $9.8 billion, followed by China and Japan in second and third place, then the European Union in fourth place, and South Korea in fifth place.

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Doosan Infracore Unveils Wheel Loader with “Transparent Bucket”

Doosan Infracore announced in March that it had introduced the industry’s first wheel loader with a “transparent bucket” function.

The transparent bucket is a system that allows the wheel loader driver to see even blind spots in front of the bucket through the monitor in the cockpit. The innovative system records images in front of the wheel loader with cameras installed at the top and bottom and shows the combined images in real time using a curved projection method.

The front of the wheel loader has been considered a major safety issue due to blind spots. With the transparent bucket function, however, the driver can easily check the blind spot in front of the bucket with a monitor to prevent safety accidents.

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Komatsu Targets CO2 Zero Emissions by 2050

Komatsu is aiming to reduce its CO2 emissions to virtually zero by 2050. The goal is to reduce CO2 emissions to zero not only from its own production of construction equipment, but also from the use of construction equipment by its customers. The company aims to achieve this goal by promoting the electrification of construction equipment, improving fuel efficiency, and encouraging customers to use their construction equipment more efficiently, etc.

The company will respond to the fact that ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) investors are emphasizing the reduction of emissions, including those of customers.

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Beijing Accelerates “Fuel for Battery” Policy

Qin Fen
Qin Fen

The Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport in February issued an action plan describing how to switch out IC-powered light commercial vehicles in urban areas.

The city government will subsidize fleet companies switching out 20 gasoline or diesel powered vehicles to battery-powered cargo vehicles one time before Aug. 31, 2021.  The government will issue city passes to fleet companies on more favorable terms than ICE powered cargo vehicles.

There will be a government transportation center to monitor every battery-powered vehicle on operating range, GPS, etc., in case someone embezzles government subsidy.

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