JCB Power Systems officially opened

ON 16 February HRH The Duke of York officially opened the new JCB Power Systems manufacturing plant at Dove Valley Park, near Foston, Derbyshire, home of the new JCB444 diesel engine.

In 2004, JCB became the first company in the UK for 60 years to begin diesel engine manufacture. Now, just 15 months after the first JCB444 engine was made, daily production has reached 100 units and the technologically advanced engine is powering more than half the machines made by JCB each year.

During the royal visit, JCB chairman Sir Anthony Bamford praised the team behind the production of the new engine and said his father had always wanted to manufacture his own engine but the high costs involved had ruled it out until now.

The £80 million development cost of the JCB444 engine is the biggest single investment made by JCB in the company’s 60-year history.