Ricardo and Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Co Ltd (JAC) have today announced that they have signed a contract that will see the two companies work together in the development of a new 2.0 litre turbo-diesel for JAC’s expanding product range.

The contract was signed by Ricardo UK Ltd managing director Martin Fausset and JAC’s head of powertrain academy Ms Jin Suhua at a ceremony held in the presence of the president of JAC, Mr Jin An. The ceremony took place at the headquarters of JAC in Hefei, Anhui Province, China.

Under the terms of the deal, Ricardo engineers based both at Ricardo Shanghai as well as the company’s UK technical centres, will work with their counterparts at JAC to develop the new 2.0 litre turbocharged and intercooled diesel engine. The new product is aimed at meeting robustly the requirements of Euro 5 emissions regulations, reflecting the importance of emissions compliance in Chinese and international markets. The engineering team will also aim to ensure that the new engine delivers the highly competitive performance, packaging, refinement and durability targets established for application in JAC’s future vehicle range. Development of the new engine will take place across three distinct phases of concept and definitive design and analysis, and performance and emissions development, and will commence immediately.

Commenting on the new contract with JAC, Ricardo UK Ltd managing director Martin Fausset said: “The award to Ricardo of this contract to assist JAC with the development of a new state-of-the-art diesel engine marks a further development of the extremely positive relationship between our two companies. The Chinese market is important to the future growth of Ricardo as we seek to assist the country’s vehicle makers develop globally competitive products capable of achieving the very latest emissions regulations while also satisfying the increasing demands of end users. We look forward to working with JAC on this exciting new engine programme.”

Commenting on the new contract with Ricardo, JAC head of powertrain academy Ms Jin Suhua said: “The JAC new generation of 2.0L CTI diesel engine features low emissions and high efficiency. It is designed in accordance with the world wide theme of energy saving, environmentally friendly low carbon emissions product. In order to fulfil the demand on high quality products in both Chinese and international markets, this engine will be applied to JAC light duty truck, light bus, etc. The cooperation between JAC and Ricardo is very important. It will improve the light commercial vehicle powertrain quality, establish the light commercial vehicle powertrain platform with our own IPR and maintain the leading position of JAC light commercial vehicle in competitions.”