Traton Merges International R&D Operations Into Global Unit
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Traton Group plans to merge its global research and development operations under one umbrella.
The 9,000 R&D employees of the individual Scania, MAN, International Motors and Volkswagen Truck & Bus subsidiaries will team up with a further 3,000 colleagues until now working for the parent company, it said.
Niklas Klingenberg, the Traton executive board member responsible for R&D, will head the unit.
“The forthcoming closer cooperation in [R&D] will make us both quicker and more efficient, enabling us to develop more precisely targeted innovations and bring products to market earlier,” said Klingenberg.
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“This approach means we can avoid duplication of work and, at the same time, consistently tailor our product portfolio optimally to the needs of different customers across all our brands,” he added.
Part of the reorganization will herald a greater focus on developing modular components that can be used by different brands, Traton said.
Modularity is a concept long entrenched at Scania. Södertälje, Sweden-based Scania moved entirely to a modular platform system around 40 years ago, according to Traton.
International’s S13 integrated powertrain, including a version of Traton’s common base engine, was one of the first cross-company collaborations that demonstrated the modular strategy, a spokeswoman said.
International has about 3,000 R&D staff in North America.
International's S13 integrated powertrain, which was one of Traton'sfirst cross-company collaborations that demonstrated its modular strategy. (International Motors)
Employees are based at various facilities, including in Lisle, Ill.; New Carlisle, Ind.; San Antonio; Rochester Hills, Mich.; and Escobedo, Mexico.
International’s headquarters are in Lisle. The company’s proving grounds are in New Carlisle in northwest Indiana. Rochester Hills is the home of the company’s battery-electric truck and bus research operations.
San Antonio and Escobedo are home to two of International’s four truck and engine manufacturing plants in North America.
Serial production of the powertrain began in October 2023 at the Huntsville, Ala., plant.
The powertrain comprises the S13 engine, T14 automated transmission and the aftertreatment system.
It is part of the final internal combustion engine platform that International and Traton plan to develop ahead of a future where the truck and bus maker will only produce zero-emission vehicles.
As a result of the modular platform principle, 80% of the common base engine is unchanged across the globe. International’s remaining 20% includes a different engine mount.
International, or Navistar as it was known at the time, completed a 110,000-square-foot expansion of the Huntsville plant in the fourth quarter of 2023 to support production of the powertrain. The facility now has a 410,000-square-foot footprint.
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Scania began production of its version of the common base engine in 2022, while MAN followed in 2024.
The S13 engine, meanwhile, is International’s first with selective catalytic reduction technology as the primary emissions reduction technology. With no exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) cooler, almost 100% of exhaust gas flows to a fixed geometry turbocharger, providing more power from the engine. Eliminating the EGR cooler therefore makes the engine more efficient.
The dual-stage aftertreatment system has dual selective catalytic reduction to control the nitrogen oxide emissions and a diesel particulate filter to control the particulate matter emissions.
The powertrain premiered as part of an update for LT Series trucks in August 2022.
Executives said at the time that the setup would deliver fuel efficiency gains of up to 15% compared with its first-generation A26 engine. The A26 debuted in 2017.
