Delphi Wins $800 Million in its Diesel Common-Rail Injection Business
2 August 2000
Diesel Technology Provides Fuel-Efficient Solutions for Automakers
FLINT, Mich. - Delphi Automotive Systems, with its recent diesel business
acquisition, is uniquely positioned with a full line of diesel engine management
systems to respond to the rising popularity of diesel engines worldwide.
To date, more than $2 billion has been booked over five years for the
diesel common-rail direct-injection system, said Guy C. Hachey, president of
Delphi Energy & Chassis Systems. Of that total, $800 million has been booked
since Delphi acquired the diesel business in January, Hachey said.
Sales of Delphi's common-rail system are growing because it provides
significant fuel economy benefits and is considered to be a major building
block to bring the benefits of diesel engines to a wider base of consumers,
said Dominique Chauvin, managing director of Delphi Energy & Chassis Systems
Europe, which operates the diesel business.
"Contrary to diesel engines produced even a few years ago, today's are now
powerful, smooth, quiet and clean," said Donald L. Runkle, Delphi executive
vice president and president of the Dynamics & Propulsion sector. "The common
rail system can increase efficiency and driving pleasure while increasing fuel
economy."
In Europe, diesels already have about a third of the overall market. And
gas prices climbed to more than $2 per gallon a month ago in the United States
and have hovered between $4 and $5 ($1.06 and $1.30 per liter) in Europe,
which make diesel engines a more popular choice.
Common-rail technology will improve the diesel engine's fuel economy by
30 to 35 percent over conventional gasoline engines and dramatically improve
diesel emissions and noise, Runkle said.
Delphi is also developing an ion-sensing system for the closed-loop
control of diesel combustion, Runkle explained. The closed-loop system will
bring even further benefits to diesel emissions and noise when the vehicle is
idling.
The technology also ensures performance stability throughout the vehicle's
life.
Further exhaust particulate and NOx emission reductions will be possible
with Delphi's comprehensive systems solutions for exhaust aftertreatment. For
example, Delphi is developing a non-thermal plasma exhaust system that will
allow diesel engines to meet stringent NOx emissions standards and reduce
particulates and hydrocarbons.
"We are very excited about the potential for our revolutionary non-thermal
plasma exhaust system with its huge reduction in emissions, particularly for
NOx and particulates, which are the biggest challenges for diesel engines,"
Hachey said.
As a result of the acquisition of the diesel business in January, Delphi
is now a global provider of diesel systems with 12 manufacturing facilities in
seven countries. Delphi is the world's No. 2 producer of diesel fuel-
injection systems for light-, medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.
Seven months later, Delphi is meeting the objectives that were set when
the acquisition was first announced, Hachey said. Those initiatives include
diversifying Delphi's customer base, improving its global footprint, boosting
European sales, and strengthening Delphi's technology portfolio by adding
entirely new high-growth diesel product lines. In addition, Delphi is on
track to make the business accretive in the first full year of operation.
Multi-national Delphi Automotive Systems, with headquarters in Troy,
Mich., USA; Paris; Tokyo; and Sao Paulo, Brazil, is a world leader in mobile
electronics and transportation components and systems technology. Delphi's
three business sectors -- Dynamics & Propulsion; Safety, Thermal & Electrical
Architecture; and Electronics & Mobile Communication -- provide comprehensive
product solutions to complex customer needs. Delphi has approximately 216,000
employees and operates 179 wholly owned manufacturing sites, 41 joint
ventures, 53 customer centers and sales offices and 31 technical centers in 39
countries.