Caterpillar-owned engine manufacturer Perkins has celebrated the production of its 20 millionth engine, a major milestone which took place at the company’s facility in Peterborough, UK.

Perkins celebrated a major milestone today (April 28) with the production of its 20 millionth engine.

81 years after the brand was established, the 20 millionth Perkins engine, a 1206 two-stage turbo Tier 4 diesel engine, rolled off the production line at the company’s facility in Peterborough, UK.

At a small ceremony, attended by around 70 employees, Perkins president Ramin Younessi said: “Twenty million engines is a significant achievement of which we’re all very proud.

“Today, Perkins is one of the world’s leading suppliers of off-highway diesel and gas engines in the industry. Our engines are manufactured across four continents and power more than 800 different applications in the construction, power generation, agricultural, material handling, industrial and marine markets.”

The 20 millionth engine was a 1206 two-stage turbo Tier 4 diesel engine. Perkins estimates that of the 20 million engines its has produced, at least 4.5 million are still in service.

The company has capacity to manufacture 800,000 engines a year from its manufacturing facilities in Peterborough and Stafford, UK; Griffin in Georgia, USA; Curitiba in Brazil; and Wuxi in China.

At the ceremony, Younessi credited Perkin’s global reach with reaching the huge number.  “Our global manufacturing facilities have all contributed to this 20 million milestone for the Perkins brand, to which I extend my sincere thanks to the team, while our global customer base have of course, made their contribution too, by continuing to value their ongoing relationships with us as their power provider, as much as we value our partnerships with them.”

Perkins is one of the world’s leading suppliers of off-highway diesel and gas engines in the 4 – 2000 kW market. In 1998 Perkins became a wholly owned subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc.