JCB celebrates engine production milestone

JCB has celebrated a significant manufacturing milestone – the production of the 200,000th JCB Dieselmax engine.

The first JCB engine rolled off the line in November 2004 at JCB Power Systems in Foston, Derbyshire, after years of development and an £80 million investment.

The 200,000th JCB engine milestone has been achieved with the production of 170,000 engines at JCB Power Systems and 30,000 in India, where manufacturing began in April last year.

Director of Engine Programmes Alan Tolley said: “Since 2004, the JCB Dieselmax engine has earned an unrivalled reputation for reliability and durability in the off-highway sector. It has also given JCB complete control over its destiny in powertrain technology.”

In 2006, two slightly modified Dieselmax engines powered the JCB Dieselmax car to a diesel landspeed record of 350mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats in the USA - a record that still stands today. JCB engines are now fitted into more than 70 per cent of the machines JCB manufactures as well as substantial numbers of third part products. JCB Power Systems employs around 250 people.