MAN Engines unveils range updates at Agritechnica 2025

MAN D4276 Off-Road engine at Agritechnica 2025 (Photo: Power Progress)

MAN Engines presented a series of ‘strategic product updates’ at Agritechnica 2025, held at the Deutsche Messe in Hanover, Germany last November. These included updated versions of the MAN D2676 and D4276 agricultural engines which now feature new engine control units (ECUs) which can get the best performance from all engines with fixed- and variable vane turbochargers.

According to MAN, bench tests with the ECUs have returned a 3% improvement in fuel efficiency for the D4276 and up to 7% for the D2676. Measured over the full operational lifetime of the engine, such gains can help reduce the total cost of ownership.

Also featured on the stand at Agritechnica was a MAN battery pack. While supporting production off battery-electric vehicles, these will also be paired with internal combustion engines to create new hybrid solutions for a series of on- and off-highway applications.

Additional insight

Asked about the ‘strategic product updates’ and what that actual means in terms of improvement, Reiner Roessner, head of Sales at MAN Engines, had this to say: “Primarily it relates to the new MD1+ ECU. Also, while completing this upgrade we took the opportunity to update the full combustion process. The changes really took us to the next level in terms of efficiency, the engines will be competitive on the market for at least five to 10 years.”

The ECU is sourced from Bosch, a long-time supplier to MAN Engines, which also supplied the injection systems. All other software, including the engine mapping, is produced in-house.

To achieve the combustion chamber upgrades, Roessner says that it was necessary to upgrade the fuel injectors, piston bowl and in some cases the turbo. The updates have resulted in a more efficient fuel burn that helps to improve fuel economy and reduces CO2 output.

Reiner Roessner, MAN Engines (Photo: MAN)

Looking at the new turbo units, Roessner explains more about the performance improvement. “Efficiency of turbo units has increased a lot over recent years, with faster response times and better flow volumes. It’s not just the two agricultural engines which will have this upgrade, almost all MAN Engines for off-road applications will use the new turbochargers.”

Battery future

A series of engine OEMs are now manufacturing batteries – MAN has will invest a total of €250 million at its plant in Nuremburg to support production of packs used in battery-electric vehicles. Asked if there were plans to introduce diesel-electric hybrid powertrains, Roessner responded that this is a development path already being explored.

“We have completed studies and there are on-going projects. Right now, I’d say the MAN Smart Hybrid experience is being primarily developed for marine, but those ideas and concepts could be carried over into a lot of different applications.”

Continuing, he says that the battery could be used to improve peak power, particularly in areas of the power band where there are dips in engine response. There is also the possibility of using a smaller engine as supplemental power from the battery-electric system supports total output. This would return the numbers of a larger, engine-only powertrain, possibly with a smaller footprint.

MAN battery packs can support full electric and hybrid powertrains (Photo: MAN)

Beyond this, Roessner believes that MAN could yet produce fully-electric power solutions for agricultural machines and similar applications. “The smaller the equipment, the more we will see electrification. I think most companies in the market understand that if a machine is using a 40 kW engine, that is an ideal candidate for battery power.”

That said, he acknowledges that unlike automotive or even trucks, the speed of electrification in the agricultural market is a lot slower. While projects readily make it to the planning stage, Roessner says that many of these don’t make it to market due to cost, both in the development process and of the final machine.

“It will take time for electrification to have the same impact in agricultural machine markets,” he says. “Costs will have to come down to support the R&D and lower total sales volumes.”