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Trains NewsWire EXCLUSIVE: GE has booked 1,000 orders for Tier 4 units, EMD looks to shorten Tier 4 delivery period
Wow EMD has really suffered as far as ownership, too bad thru no fault of their own. I think the biggest reason was the closure of the Canadian plant and moving to Muncie to avoid unions (for now). 3 years behind GE is huge deficit, but Im still an EMD fan. But one thing I will say about GE, they got their s____ together!
Wonder if they’ll be moving on from the SD70 line with this new engine? Or possibly the SD series altogether? I guess we’ll just have to find out. And wow, BNSF ordered 1,000 units?!
Poor excuse to blame it all on GM and the private equity company. Would be better to blame it on the internal EMD management and also on the “help” they have received from Progress Rail and Caterpillar. Cat has struggled with the entire emissions issue in all of their markets. This is why you can’t get a Cat engine in an OTR truck anymore. Its always nice to have a scapegoat though, instead of having to man up and admit that they blew it.
By Leon wriing" 3 yrs. is a major set back"…no average main track freight locomotives to offer in that period of this decade, of locomotive manufacturing?..
They are “in business?”
I think EMD is not.
Wishing I’m incorrectly presuming, I’ll type EMD, R.I.P.
Dispite the setback for emd its going to be very interesting to see what the new locomotive is going to look and perform. But yes, 3 years is a major setback.
I think Mr. Ainsworth was right to point to GM as the reason EMD is behind. Technology research takes money. GE is swimmimg in it while GM lost interest in lovomotives 15-20 years ago. Private equity companies are all about flipping their investment as quickly as possible and not investing in it.
Don’t write EMD off yet. They can still sell to less regulated foreign markets. I also wouldn’t be surprised if they can use flex credits from Cat to sell in the U.S. If they are trying to move up the date, it seems they aren’t giving up yet!
Let’s not write emd off just yet. If this new locomotive turn out to be somthing like no other loco emd has a chance if not then they are done. Definately!!!
Blaming your predecessors is a poor strategy. CAT bought EMD four years ago. That is ample time to get their act together before the Tier 4 deadline in 2015. Seems to me they wasted a lot of time trying to get the 710 engine up to Tier 4 standards. When that wasn’t viable, a new engine was the only option, hence the delay to 2015. This happened on Billy’s watch. Billy should stand up and take responsibility, not blame GM and Berkshire a Partners. This is a blow I doubt EMD will recover from.
…hence the delay to 2017.
With this new locomotive emd is developing I think they understand that they have to knock it out of the park on this one or else it will be the end of an era
The word catastrophic comes to mind. How can EMD ever recover from this? At least 2 years of no new locomotive orders for Class 1s? GE, already the market leader, will clean their clock. History may be repeating itself with GE driving a locomotive builder out of business.
EMD had better hope GE screws up…
I smell a rat…
From the onset of CAT ownership, the focus at EMD has been on ‘cost cutting’-as opposed to ramping up investment in a property that had been starved for same.
Also suspect that CAT thought they would force feed the railroads a diet of CAT-engined locomotives with service parts supplied through the local CAT dealer. That dog won’t hunt…
Frankly, Ainsworth and company are ill-equipped to be running EMD.
I smell a rat…
From the onset of CAT ownership, the focus at EMD has been on ‘cost cutting’-as opposed to ramping up investment in a property that had been starved for same.
Also suspect that CAT thought they would force feed the railroads a diet of CAT-engined locomotives with service parts supplied through the local CAT dealer. That dog won’t hunt…
Frankly, Ainsworth and company are ill-equipped to be running EMD.
What happen to congress and the Anti-Monopoly law. IF EMD goes under then GE is all alone in the US. 40 or 50 years ago congress would step in and EMD would have been given part of the GE order. Read the history.
Do I remember a trains article with then G.M. saying the 2 cycle engine runs cooler and by recirculating exhaust gases, tier 4 could be met?
If GE puts EMD out of business, lord help us all. GE will charge whatever they want for new locomotives and whatever they want for replacements parts. The folks in D.C. have really bungled this one by setting unrealistic emissions standards for the rail industry.
It didn’t take GE that long to develop.
http://www.moneynews.com/Companies/GE-Caterpillar-Locomotives-bet/2014/09/29/id/597572/
Not sure how anti-trust laws would apply to a situation where one of the principals made the choice not to compete. Recall that GE’s Tier IV effort began almost 10 years ago with the GEVO engine. They kept their eye on the ball.
FWIW, both GE and Siemens are in the process of selling off their major appliance units to move more in the direction of ‘infrastructure.’ Alstom is selling off their power generation business line to concentrate on rail rolling stock. Not hard to see that the loco business will ultimately be the province of a small number of very muscular players.