FPT Industrial produces 100,000th natural gas engine

NG engines on the production line at Bourbon-Lancy (Photo: FPT Industrial)

FPT Industrial has reported reaching the production milestone of 100,000 natural gas (NG) engines. The landmark was achieved at the company’s manufacturing plant in Bourbon-Lancy, France, home of its large engine manufacturing operations.

The 100,000th NG engine was an XCursor 13 intended for the truck market. The multi-fuel model is said to offer best-in-class power, torque and braking power. Launched in 2024, it delivers an 8% reduction in CO2 emissions over the previous 13-litre engine.

With high reliability, the engine can power vehicles for up to 1.2 million kilometres.

Since the introduction of the Cursor NG engine family in 2004, the plant has produced more than 45,000 engines (8.9- and 13-litre models).

The Bourbon-Lancy site dates back to 1874. Today, about 1200 employees produce the heavy range of NG engines. The engines from this range went into production in 1997.

In 2021, the plant received the World Class Manufacturing Gold Level, described as being the highest possible classification for excellence in operations.

Vincent Barbosa, plant manager at the Bourbon-Lancy facility, said: “This monumental milestone results from the combination of many factors: industry-leading engine design to meet market demand, excellence in production engineering to facilitate efficient build, and the commitment of our motivated workforce to meet output schedules and maintain customer satisfaction.

“Together, these strengths demonstrate that we can achieve impressive goals in the pursuit of satisfying the industry’s need for low-environmental impact powertrains.”

Natural gas is one of several alternative fuel technologies offered by FPT Industrial. The fuel can deliver significant improvements in air quality, while reducing CO2 emissions. Other benefits include noise reduction and improved fuel economy from the multipoint stoichiometric combustion technology.