Hagen Brothers farms,Goodrich ND | I would bet your right about cost and marketability. I suspect the Dodge pickup line would not exist today if not for the Cummins diesel option. To many people that "Cummins turbo diesel" emblem on the side of the Dodge pickup is instantly recognized as a tough,reliable ,powerfull diesel pickup. If they switched to a Mercedes engine and it bombed the first year,Dodge would be in a world of hurt. A big share of Dodge customers would go to a powerstroke or duramax pickup.
As to cost,I would like to know the price of a complete as installed in a Dodge ,Cummins 5.9 engine,compared to the cost of a Mercedes engine of the same size and power.
About 20 years ago at a family reunion,I talked to a relative who ran a Ground and air freight outfit. He was telling me about the 6 new Mercedes semi tractors they added to their fleet. He was really impressed with the ride and quality of the units. Six years later at another reunion I asked him how the Mercedes trucks were working out? He no longer had anything good to say about them,said that they did not run any more miles before overhaul than an American truck with an 855 Cummins,and that anything for the Mercedes engine or chassis cost 2-3 times as much as the American built truck and engine. |
Cummins to produce light duty/high-performance diesels
