JOIN USHinduja Group’s flagship company Ashok Leyland will roll out its much-awaited completely electronically-governed Neptune engine, globally benchmarked for lower operating costs, this year.
“(The launch will be) sometime this year. It is going through trials now,” Ashok Leyland Managing Director Vinod K Dasari said. The Chennai-based company has completed over 3 lakh km of field trials of the engine, developed in-house, and the “market launch will happen sometime this year... We will look for the appropriate time...,” Dasari said.
The state-of-the-art Neptune engine would feature in the company’s “U-Truck” platform.
According to company officials, the low-friction and high torque Neptune engines offer lower operating costs, longer life and better comfort. The engines developed with technical assistance from AVL - an Austrian powertrain and combustion expert design house. They range from 160 to 380 HP and are entirely CRS electronic.