With the market launch of the MAN eTruck, electric mobility is picking up speed in the commercial vehicles of MAN Truck & Bus. At the same time, the MAN Engines business unit continues to rely on combustion engines, among which for use in ag machinery.
“Today and in the long term, we see the coexistence of a wide variety of technologies among our heterogeneous customer groups. Despite advances in battery technology, there will be applications where internal combustion engines are indispensable, as infrastructure, machine design or usage profiles do not allow for alternatives. For these customers, we will continue to be the partner and supplier for these drive technologies,” says Werner Kübler, Head of Engineering at MAN Engines.
MAN Engines has been benefiting for many years from the constant new and further development of its engine portfolio on the basis of the latest technological developments. These include in-line four and six-cylinder engines as well as V8 and V12 engines from 5 to 30 liters of displacement. These are specially designed for applications in power generation, agricultural and railway technology as well as maritime applications. In addition, MAN Engines has added the MAN BatteryPack to its portfolio, which is marketed for both mobile machines and stationary applications.
MAN Engines will also be presenting innovations and updates to its off-road product portfolio at Agritechnica, taking place this coming November. In addition, the MAN Engines business unit is scheduled to start series production of the MAN Smart HYBRID Experience, a hybrid system for marine applications that represents an important step towards modern drive technologies.
“The engine portfolio that is currently available to us is future-oriented. If you look at the long life cycles of the products in our business, we are thus safeguarding the needs of all current and future customer groups in the long term,” says Reiner Roessner, Head of Sales at MAN Engines. “Ongoing technical development and adaptation to the latest technological possibilities are a major factor in enabling us to further develop existing engine platforms in order to always meet the latest requirements and expectations of the industry,” adds Werner Kübler, Head of Engineering at MAN Engines. In addition, the continuous improvements ensure that the engines always comply with the latest emission specifications.
In addition, MAN Engines is continuing its research and development work on solutions for alternative drive systems and alternative fuels, which has been ongoing for years. In this way, the engine manufacturer offers its customers the opportunity to operate their machines and applications locally with reduced or no CO2 emissions. In addition to the production of engines for the Group’s own commercial vehicles as well as for the MAN Engines business unit, the MAN Nuremberg site has also been systematically expanded in the direction of electromobility in recent years. “But this also means that we will need very efficient combustion engines for a long time to come on the path to the transformation to electric mobility,” says MAN CEO Alexander Vlaskamp. With the current investments in the new battery production, battery development and the production of the new CBE Group engine, the site is well positioned for all applications in the long term. In addition to these investments amounting to almost 500 million euros, the focus will also be on research opportunities for alternative fuels as well as the plant overhaul of MAN engines at the site. “After several years of transformation, we are well equipped to meet today’s needs as well as the needs of the future for all our customer groups,” Dr. Matthias Meindl, Head of Component Production at MAN concludes.
