[Icarus]

Originalmente publicado por ZARKA

Para la serie Volvo Penta MD, que coincide con los Perkins PERAMA, la base de ambos es Shibaura, motores industriales fabricados en Japón. Perkins compró estos motores para marinizarlos y Volvo recompró a Perkins, pintó de verde y subió los precios.

Esta es la historia completa del motor que volvo vendía bajo el nombre de MD2030. A lo largo de su historia se fabricaron cientos de miles de unidades para industria, tractores, maquinaria de obras publicas, compresores, generadores etc. y es uno de los motores mas populares de todo el mundo:

"Your engine is what Perkins calls a 103-10. Perkins started importing these 100 series engines from a Japanese company called Ishikawajima Shibaura Machinery, Ltd. ISM is part of Ishikawajima Harima Industries, one of Japan’s largest industrial companies.
Perkins marketed this engine in a marinized version as the Perama M30. They sold the engine to Volvo Penta who marketed it as their MD2030.
They also sold the engine to Massey Ferguson, McCormick, Terramite, Textron, Jacobsen, Cushman, Vermeer, Leech Lewis, JCB, Kobelco, and Northern Lights to name just a few.
In the US, the engine was distributed thru Detroit Diesel – Allison which is closely tied to the MTU conglomerate.

By 1996, Perkins had become so successful at marketing these engines to other equipment manufacturers that they formed a joint venture with ISM called Perkins Shibaura Engines, Ltd. and began assembling the engines at the Perkins facility in Peterborough, UK from parts shipped from Japan.

In 1997, Perkins was acquired by Caterpillar. With an added boost from Caterpillar, this little engine has become one of the most popular engines in the world. It’s used in turf equipment, tractors, mini-excavators, brush choppers, compressors, welders, pumps, generators, etc. etc. etc. Even Caterpillar uses it in some of their smaller equipment. The “Perkins” name was highlighted on the engine ID plate which is located on a distinctive boss just forward of the injection pump. The 2006 model year’s production of the engine has “Shibaura” highlighted on the ID plate. In 2001, the larger Shibaura 400 series engine was introduced with assembling at Peterborough, UK from parts mostly from Japan, and in June, 2004 assembling of the 400 series engine began at a Caterpillar facility in Griffin, Georgia, USA with production exceeding 100,000 units per year".