How do you see the growth in the Indian market for industrial engines?
The Indian government’s strong focus on infrastructure development has boosted growth of the construction equipment industry, wherein the diesel engine continues to be the dominant powertrain, accounting for 98% of all engines sold. With the construction, mining, and commercial vehicle demand rising, India will witness a medium and long-term demand growth for industrial engines.
The engine market is segmented as per fuel type, power, usage, and region. How do you see the segmental growth and demand prospect?
The Indian Construction Equipment market is seeing registrations of new machines, driven by accelerated funding from the government in the development of infrastructure projects like roads, tunnels, metros, airports. So, diesel and gas-run engines are likely to reach 5 million units during 2022-2027.
We will continue to witness a pull for both diesel and gas engines in construction machinery, and in the mining and commercial vehicle segments.
At Weichai, our product platforms are in an advanced stage of development for CEV-V compliance for wheeled application and will be introduced in the market by the end of 2023.
How is your company gearing up to meet the forecasted demand?
The construction and mining equipment sales in 2023-24 will witness a big jump in demand with multiple infra projects coming up across the country. Weichai India is fully geared up to meet the rising demand with its cutting-edge technology products. The company’s ultra-modern, smart manufacturing facility in Pune offers indigenously built diesel and gas engines in capacities of 40 to 800 hp for catering to a wide range of applications across the segment.
We are committed to keep our promise of “Made in India” and “Made for India” and will continue our investments to ensure end-to-end support to the OEMs and to our customers.
What will be the highlights of your company at bauma Conexpo India 2023?
We will be showcasing our complete powertrain that includes diesel and gas engines, axle and gearbox at bauma Conexpo India 2023 – positioning Weichai as a “one-stop solution provider” for construction equipment, mining, and commercial vehicle segments.
Weichai is the world’s largest diesel engine manufacturer and a leading global player in the diesel and gas engines for segments like power generation, on- and off-highway applications. True to our brand promise, ‘Engineered to Win” we supply products with the latest technology, high quality, and reliability.
What R&D is your company undertaking for contributing towards a zero-emission, eco-friendly environment?
Weichai has 10 R&D centres across Europe, USA, China, and SE Asia, with over 20,000 R&D employees and investments of over 3Bn USD in the last ten years. The Group has invested significantly in hybrid technology, fuel cells, and renewable energy space for ensuring a cleaner and greener technology that leads to carbon footprint reduction. We are watching the technology adoption curve by customers in India and will bring it here at the right time.
We recently launched the world’s first commercial diesel engine with base engine’s thermal efficiency of 52.28% and natural gas engine with base engine’s thermal efficiency of 54.16%. Compared with the industry average level, the 52% thermal efficiency diesel engine can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 12%, and the 54% thermal efficiency natural gas engine can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 25%.
What are the competitive features of your engines that help customers reduce their total cost of ownership?
Our engines are designed to suit extreme duty cycles. The ratings are fine tuned to suit the end applications. We have a dedicated application center in India that follows an efficient machine integration development process. The design of the cooling system is optimized as per the end application requirement.
Weichai engines are widely known for their high thermal efficiency and their best-in-class power-to-weight ratio, offering flexibility to mount after treatments, thus making integration seamless for OEMs, and also ensuring a compact layout. The engines’ ECUs are capable of integrating telematics for seamless communication for remote monitoring. Ultimately, the lower Total Cost of Ownership will be the final derivative of all the features we offer.
