Piaggio Unveils Scooter Engine with Orbital Technology

PERTH, Australia, Dec. 2 -- Europe's largest motorcycle producer Piaggio has unveiled a new 50cc engine featuring Orbital's air-assisted direct fuel injection technology.

Piaggio stated that the engine, displayed at the Small Engine Technology Conference in Pisa, Italy, is due to go into production in 2002.

This latest development means that three of Europe's four largest motorcycle producers will now use Orbital's direct fuel injection technology. Piaggio's sales of motorized two wheelers exceeded 480,000 units in 2000 and it maintains its absolute leadership of the European market, with 28% share of the segments in which it operates.

Aprilia has released two scooter models with Orbital technology while Peugeot Motocycles launched its innovative Looxor direct injection model at the Paris Motor Show in September this year.

Synerject, the 50:50 JV between Orbital and Siemens, is the supplier of direct fuel injection systems to Piaggio and Orbital's other motorcycle customers. Orbital technology gives Synerject a unique advantage in the 2-stroke and 4-stroke scooter and motorcycle market with a current worldwide market size of approximately 21 million units per annum.

Orbital CEO Kim Schlunke said, ``Orbital is pleased to welcome Piaggio to the group of manufacturers that are using Orbital's Direct Injection technology to provide superior fuel economy, emissions and power to their customers. Piaggio is the largest scooter manufacturer in Europe and their entry sends a clear signal that Orbital's high technology clean two stroke engine systems are emerging as the dominant systems for this sector of the motorcycle market.''

``Piaggio's decision to proceed to production is of particular strategic importance because it means that the majority of the large European motorcycle manufacturers will now be offering a clean hi-tech two stroke product that provides superior power and fuel economy when compared to equivalent displacement 4 stroke products.''

As well as being the industry leader in Europe, Piaggio dominates the 50cc market. The Piaggio engine is the most powerful 50cc direct injection engine to be released to date, producing 7.6 horsepower.

Orbital is a leading international developer of engine technologies using direct in-cylinder fuel injection and lean-burn systems for enhanced fuel economy and lower emissions. The company serves the worldwide automotive, marine, recreational and motorcycle markets. Headquartered in Perth, Western Australia, Orbital stock is traded on the Australian Stock Exchange (OEC), the New York Stock Exchange (OE) as well as the Berlin (ORE) and Frankfurt (OREA) Exchanges.