Cummins Inc. produced its 3,000,000th diesel engine for a Ram truck this past week, at the company’s Columbus Mid-Range Engine Plant (CMEP) in Indiana. The milestone marks a partnership that started 31 years ago in 1988 on the 1989 Ram D250 and D350 models.
Currently, the 600,000 square-foot CMEP has a work staff of 900 people and produces 168,000 engines a year.
“The relationship that Ram Truck has with Cummins is one of the industry’s most enduring, and continues to raise the bar for power and durability,” said Reid Bigland, Head of Ram Brand. “Both companies have benefitted from this partnership, but Ram customers truly get to enjoy the toughness and best-in-class capability that a Cummins-powered Ram Heavy Duty truck delivers.”
For 2019, Cummins and Ram have shocked the automotive world with the 400 horsepower and 1,000 lb.-ft. of torque, 6.7-liter inline six-cylinder turbodiesel high-output engine for its Ram 3500 lineup. The engine features a host of upgrades for 2019, that includes a new Compacted Graphite Iron (CGI) block, pistons, cylinder heads, and valvetrain for better efficiency, more power, and reduced Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH).
Ram Trucks and Cummins have a lot of milestones from the past. These include…
- 1988 – Introduction of the 1st Cummins-powered 1989 Ram Heavy Duty pickup
- 1996 – The 5.9-liter Cummins 12-valve surpasses 200 horsepower
- 2001 – The 5.9-liter Cummins 24-valve surpasses 500 lb.-ft. of torque
- 2007 – A new 6.7-liter displacement is launched with 350 horsepower
- 2013 – The 6.7-liter Cummins reaches 385 horsepower, 850 lb.-ft. of torque
“We are grateful to Ram Truck for choosing Cummins-powered engines for 30-plus years, and we look forward to a long partnership,” said Melina Kennedy, Executive Director of Cummins Pickup Business. “We are honored that these 20 employees have chosen to devote the 30-plus years to Cummins. They and the whole plant team are a big-hearted group committed to improving where they live.”
Ram Truck and Cummins are celebrating this newest milestone with a group of 20 Cummins employees who have been working on Ram Truck – Cummins engines since the inception of the companies’ partnership. The engine will be fitted in a 2019 Ram 3500 Laramie Longhorn Crew Cab Dually 4×4 at the Saltillo Truck Assembly Plant. The purchaser of the Ram with the 3-millionth engine will be identified after the truck is built. Ram Trucks is planning a celebration of the completed truck at the dealership involved at a later date.
