The year 2026 marks the 40th anniversary of the partnership between Cummins and Dongfeng, as well as the 30th anniversary of the establishment of Dongfeng Cummins Engine Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as ‘Dongfeng Cummins’). Following three decades of sustained development, Dongfeng Cummins has evolved from an engine manufacturer specialising in automotive powertrains into a provider of both on-road and off-road power solutions, continuously supplying power solutions to the commercial vehicle, construction machinery, power generation equipment, mining machinery and agricultural equipment sectors in numerous countries and regions around the world.
On 6 July, representatives from several media outlets visited the Dongfeng Cummins production base in Xiangyang to take an in-depth look at the national-level smart manufacturing demonstration plant. They gained a first-hand understanding of the company’s product portfolio, technological innovations, local R&D and global manufacturing capabilities in the non-road power sector, and gained a comprehensive insight into the core competitiveness that underpins its global market development. Leveraging Cummins’ world-leading technological framework and Dongfeng’s robust local industrial foundation, Dongfeng Cummins has continuously strengthened its R&D, manufacturing and service capabilities, establishing a comprehensive system covering product development, smart manufacturing, customer support and global delivery. In the first half of 2026, the company achieved double-digit growth in overall sales; notably, both production and sales volumes in its two major off-road business segments—construction machinery and generator sets—reached record highs, becoming key drivers of the company’s high-quality development.
Thirty Years of Leapfrog Development: Building a New Model Driven by Both On-Road and Off-Road Sectors Looking back on its development journey, the partnership between Dongfeng and Cummins has been a story of Dongfeng Cummins continually pushing the boundaries of powertrain technology and achieving industrial upgrading. From its initial focus on the automotive powertrain market to the current business model characterised by the synergistic development of on-road and off-road sectors, Dongfeng Cummins has consistently driven the adoption of globally advanced powertrain technologies in China, whilst continuously expanding into a wider range of application scenarios.
In 1986, Dongfeng Motor signed a technology transfer agreement with Cummins to introduce B-series engine technology, thereby filling a gap in the domestic high-end diesel engine market. In 1996, Dongfeng Cummins was formally established; whilst consolidating its foundation in the automotive powertrain business, the company began to expand into non-road sectors such as construction machinery, generator sets, mining machinery and agricultural equipment, embarking on a path of diversified development. In 2003, the company completed a capital increase and share expansion, marking its full entry into the era of electronically controlled engines. Addressing the demands of complex operating conditions in sectors such as mining, infrastructure and agriculture, Dongfeng Cummins continued to advance the localised development of off-road powertrains. With continuous improvements in product performance and adaptability to operating conditions, the company gradually entered the supply chains of leading domestic equipment manufacturers, achieving rapid growth in its off-road business. Since 2013, the company has entered a phase of large-scale development, continuously refining its product portfolio to cover both on-road and off-road markets. Keeping pace with increasingly stringent emissions regulations, it has completed multiple rounds of technological upgrades whilst simultaneously advancing smart manufacturing and strengthening its industrial chain capabilities. The company has gradually transformed from an engine manufacturer into a provider of power solutions, whilst proactively laying the groundwork for low-carbon technology pathways such as natural gas, hybrid power and hydrogen internal combustion engines. To date, the company has delivered a cumulative total of over 4.3 million engines, and its off-road business has become a key growth pillar driving the company’s long-term development.
Coordinated Strategy Across Products, Applications and Markets to Strengthen the Foundation for Off-Highway Business Growth The off-highway market features diverse application scenarios and complex operating conditions, placing higher demands on the reliability, adaptability and customisation capabilities of powertrain systems. In response to ever-changing market demands, Dongfeng Cummins has continued to deepen its strategic approach across three dimensions—products, applications and markets—steadily enhancing its competitive edge, whilst also serving as a key pillar supporting Cummins’ expansion in the Chinese off-highway market. Product Diversification: Building a Full-Platform, Multi-Fuel Power Matrix For the off-road market, Dongfeng Cummins has established a comprehensive engine platform ranging from 3.9L to 15L, whilst simultaneously developing diverse technical pathways including diesel, natural gas and hybrid powertrains. These solutions are widely applicable across sectors such as excavators, loaders, mining equipment and generator sets. The product range meets both domestic emission upgrade requirements and overseas regulatory standards, providing reliable power support for customers’ global expansion. Application Diversification: Deepening Engagement in Core Markets and Expanding into Growth Sectors Centred on the core application areas of construction machinery, Dongfeng Cummins continues to deepen strategic cooperation with leading OEMs, proactively addressing technological demands for larger-scale, intelligent and low-carbon solutions, whilst actively supporting Chinese equipment manufacturers in ‘going global’. At the same time, the company is continuously expanding into niche markets such as drilling rigs, environmental sanitation equipment, forklift trucks and high-end agricultural machinery, developing bespoke power solutions for different application scenarios to continuously cultivate new growth opportunities. Market Diversification: Rooted in China, Serving the World In recent years, Dongfeng Cummins’ off-road business has maintained a trajectory of high-quality development. Domestic market share has risen steadily, with sustained growth in construction machinery and generator set businesses; in overseas markets, leveraging Cummins’ global service network and OEMs’ international expansion strategies, the off-road business accounted for over 60 per cent of the company’s total sales in 2026, with exports constituting over 80 per cent of this figure, primarily to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Leveraging the Xiangyang National Smart Manufacturing Base and Cummins’ service network covering more than 190 countries and regions worldwide, Dongfeng Cummins continues to provide efficient and reliable power solutions and service support for the global expansion of Chinese equipment manufacturers. The off-road business is gradually becoming a key engine driving the company’s growth both domestically and internationally. Focusing on a Low-Carbon Future: Hybrid Technology Drives Off-Road Powertrain Upgrades Against the backdrop of accelerating global low-carbon transition, Dongfeng Cummins is actively promoting the localisation of Cummins’ cutting-edge global technologies and accelerating the practical application of low-carbon technologies—such as hybrid power—in the off-road sector, thereby providing more options for the industry’s green transition. Currently, Dongfeng Cummins has achieved comprehensive hybrid development across its entire range of off-road engines, offering a variety of technical architecture solutions including range-extender, P1, P2 and P2+P2.5, enabling customised powertrain configurations for different application scenarios. These comprehensive solutions deliver fuel economy improvements of between 10 per cent and 30 per cent and are capable of withstanding complex operating conditions such as high-altitude, cold-weather and heavy-load environments. By meeting power performance requirements whilst reducing energy consumption and emissions, they pave new pathways for the green and low-carbon development of the non-road sector.
Efficient delivery and rapid response to market demand: By integrating data links across key processes—including sales, production scheduling, manufacturing and logistics—the company has achieved optimised allocation of production resources and end-to-end visualised management. Delivery lead times for non-road customised orders have been further reduced, with on-time delivery rates maintained at over 99 per cent, enabling the company to respond swiftly to global customer demand. Deeply Rooted in China, Serving the World From technology introduction to collaborative innovation, and from local manufacturing to global delivery, Dongfeng Cummins has gradually completed the transition from ‘global technology introduced to China’ to ‘local R&D serving the world’. Today, Dongfeng Cummins is not only a key manufacturing base for Cummins’ global off-road business but also an integral part of the global product development and market expansion system. The products and technological achievements developed by the Chinese team are no longer confined to the domestic market but continue to serve global customers, making the company a key practitioner of the ‘In China, For the World’ strategy. Looking to the future, Dongfeng Cummins will continue to adhere to a global development strategy. Leveraging the Xiangyang National Smart Manufacturing Base, its localised R&D capabilities and a comprehensive quality management system, the company will continuously enhance its competitiveness in the global market, injecting stronger momentum into the development of Cummins’ global off-highway business. With its innovative manufacturing capabilities rooted in China, Dongfeng Cummins will drive the global off-highway power industry towards a more efficient, intelligent and sustainable future.
