Best 2018 Q1 exhibitions: Geneva, MEE, MIBS, TAPA and Intermat

PowerGen Exhibitions: Middle East Electricity Dubai

Exhibitions 2018, the first 4 months all around the world. We have drawn up for you a summary of what we have seen in the stationary, automotive and marine fields. First stop Dubai, at Middle East Electricity.

Dubai is the place to be for power generation. On the green table of the 2018 Mee, 86 year-old Perkins has focused heavily on downsizing. In this operation, the ratings upgrade helped. It came together with the optimization of combustion and the optimization carried out on cooling systems.

The process involved three levels of power: 250 kVA, 350 kVA and 750 kVA. At the Fpt Industrial stand we found the Ats group (basically Hi-SCR2 managed for stationary applications). Cursor 16 and other Italian best-seller engines were also there. Baudouin and Cummins are two more industrial engines players in the western hemisphere that found their light in Dubai.

PLEASE, CLICK TO OUR REPORT FROM DUBAI!

Automotive Exhibitions: Bangkok and Geneva

Acronym for Tahiland auto parts & accessories, Tapa showcased components from spare parts to electronics in Bangkok from April 5-8. Technological and manufacturing know-how that has contributed to making Thailand the automotive stronghold of ASEAN. It also became the twelfth production pole of the planet. A capacity that reaches almost two million cars and pick-up trucks per year. Daimler has decided to invest in Thailand in a battery manufacturing plant. Exhibitors’ geographic mapping focuses mainly on China, Taiwan, Japan and Thailand itself.

YOU CAN FIND HERE THE TAPA PREVIEW

Geneva Motor Show 2018

Talking about passenger cars exhibitions, we can’t avoid Geneva. A morning of emotions, on March the 6th at the Geneva Motor Show 2018, for those who still care about the fate of diesel engines. At the Volkswagen stand at exactly 8 o’clock in the morning, the Volkswagen group’s CEO Matthias Müller is a kind of coming out. «In the not too distant future, diesel will see a recovery because motorists will realize that these are very efficient engines», says Müller. «If you get the awareness that modern diesel is environmentally friendly, there will be no reason not to choose this type of fuel». This is a courageous statement since it was the Wolfsburg technicians who ignited the spark of the industrial tsunami of Dieselgate.

A slightly different scene, always on March 6th but four hours later, on the Mercedes stand in Geneva packed with people, after the speech of the CEO Dieter Zetsche. A compassed Ola Källenius, in impeccable English, as only a top manager of Swedish birth can exhibit, leaves the audience amazed.

Baby Benz

After remembering that the car named by the public in 1982 as ‘baby Benz’ is now a bestseller with 9.5 million cars sold as the C Class, he turns to the joke «once it was said ‘there is no alternative to cubic centimeters’ talking about the performance of a car. Today at Mercedes we say ‘there is no technology substitute’. That’s why we are presenting an innovative C and E-class kinematic chain: our first plug-in hybrid diesel».

Then, Källenius talks straight to the world of politics that has shot ICE at zero in recent months. «The plug-in hybrid is more than just a bridge technology. It requires a complicated interaction between mechanical and electrical components, which is difficult to find in other areas. We have recently invested more than three billion euros in bringing our diesel engines to perfection. (…) Hybrid diesel allows us to combine practicality and sustainability with great driving performance: the best propulsion “package” available today».
The message is clear, sent to a panel of mayors ranging from that of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, to the burgomaster of Stuttgart who has allowed themselves to speculate about traffic blocks for diesel cars. Mercedes believes in diesel engines. It and does not intend to throw out at sea the stratospheric investments it has made to create the new family of modular engines with four and six cylinders in line. It is no coincidence that when presenting the new Class X pickup to the European public, the V6 diesel engine chosen was a three-liter 258 horsepower V6.

Marine Exhibitions: Miami

Then comes the queen of the marine exhibitions. It is MIBS, aka Miami Boat show. With 1,100 exhibitors and 1,400 boats on display on land and in-water, Miami has been for 4 days the capital of the pleasure boat world. The show’s attendance rose three percent in 2018 to 97,391. «We are proud to host the greatest boat show in the world right here in Miami», said Larry Berryman, manager of the Miami Boat show. It is important since it has been «delivering an estimated $854 million into Florida’s economy. We will continue to enhance the show to provide a world-class experience for our guests, exhibitors, and the community».

What happened under the marine engines lens?

Local and global stars were Caterpillar and Cummins. Special guests from Cat were C7.1 and C-13/CC35-37. They came with the new Cat Three60 Pod 650 integrated marine maneuvering system connected to the Cat C8.7 high-performance diesel engine. Did the yellow engines challenge the Volvo Penta IPS? Another name of first greatness of the American panorama, Mercury, has made the same with the 6.7L by FPT Industrial NEF Series. The acronym means New Engine family, originally a three-way project between Iveco, CNH, and Cummins. Later it was inherited from FPT Industrial, able to join the Zeus pod, made by Mercury itself.

Intermat Paris 2018

Intermat Paris 2018 has demonstrated that diesel technology is far to be dead. The Dieselgate echoes have been downsized. Stage V engines introduction has given industrial applications a great impulse. Concerning new releases, Deutz, John Deere, Cummins and Yanmar played a leading role, but Kubota unveiled the real surprise. Yanmar showcased the 4TN101 and the 4TN107, that held the show as if being in Hollywood. The two engines share the compliance with Stage V regulations, common rail, and electronic control systems.

Kubota keeps on with its segmentation strategy, filling the gap between the 3.8 and the 5 liters engines, introducing the V4309 (4.3 liters, as suggested by the name). Cummins instead, presented its approach to electrification. Julie Furber, Executive Director, Cummins Electrified Power Business spoke about it. «With our recent acquisitions of Brammo and Johnson Matthey Battery Systems, we are building capability across the entire range of electric storage. At Intermat we are debuting our 35kWh battery pack for the first time. It can be installed singularly or in multiples to meet the needs of the equipment operation and duty cycle». John Deere’s 13.6 liters Stage V engine represents the no-turning-back point for the application of the common rail.

Intermat has also been the stage for the presentation of the Diesel of the year 2018. On Monday the 23^rd, at 5 p.m., the award has been assigned to the Deutz TCD9.0. The German manufacturer carried also the hybrid engine son of the recently achieved incorporation of Torqeedo.