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SELLING POWER to FRANCE

by John F. Moon, A.M.I.R.T.E.

nNE of the most difficult export markets for the British automotive industry is France. Restricted quotas and high import duties make it virtually impossible for British vehicle manufacturers to sell their products in that country, and the Common Market has not improved the situation. Nevertheless, British products can be sold in France, where the design qualities of many British goods are appreciated. A prime example of this is the existence in France of well over 100,000 British-designcd Perkins oil engines, a figure which has been attained within the course of nine years.

F. Perkins, Ltd., started to export engines to France in 1952, but the immediate, demand proved to be so great— partly because of the lack of any equivalent French equip-, ment---that the French Government intervened and required Perkins to start building their engines in France.

Thus, in November, 1954, F. Perkins, Ltd., Societe Francaise des Moteurs Perkins, and Ateliers G.S.P. entered into an agreement whereby G.S.P. should produce basic Perkins engines under licence, whilst all detail finishing, sales and service should be carried out by the French Perkins concern.

Since then tremendous strides have been made in the sale of Perkins engines in France and such leading French vehicle manufacturers as Bullet, Citroen, Hotchkiss and Renault, in addition to smaller producers such as A.L.M., L.M.V. and Marmon-Herrington, take numbers of Perkins engines as original equipment. Indeed, all French oilengined 2i-ton chassis have Perkins engines, these vehicles being made by Citroen, Hotchkiss and Renault.

G.S.P. are building Perkins engines at the rate of 1,500 per month at present, production consisting of forms of P3, P4 and P6 units. The G.S.P. factory is at Courbevoie which is not far from the Perkins premises at Colombes, so the completed basic engines do not have to travel far for finishing and dispatch.

The three-cylindered engine manufactured at Courbevoie is the P3/144, and the monthly output of this unit is in the region of 300, none of which, however, go to vehicle manufacturers, being for agricultural tractors. The version of the P4 made by G.S.P. is the Four 192, which although listed in Britain as an agricultural engine, is being used in France for automotive purposes also. About 800 Four 192s are built each month, and of these 520 arc supplied to vehicle manufacturers for use as original equipment, while about 30 go to Perkins agents for converting new vehicles. • The P6 production rate. is currently 400. Chassis manufacturers are fitting 150 of these each month as original equipment, whilst 100 are being supplied to agents as conversion units, the ,remaining Hs being built for agricultural, industrial or marine purposes. Next January production of the P6 at Courbevoie wilr finish, and the Six 305 will replace it. • Of the French production not accounted for by automotive 'customers, a total of 550 units each month are supplied to manufacturers of agricultural equipment (including tractors) the remaining 150 being sold for industrial and marine uses. Since production started at Courbevoie just over six years ago G.S.P. have made over 60,000 units, the present production rate being about 80 a day, although there is capacity there to make about 180 a day. Societi Francaise des Moteurs Perkins do not rely solely on G.S.P. production for their, French sales, however.

At present about 500 Four 99 units are imported from Peterborough each month, 400 of which go to Citroen. Also being imported are Four 203Y tractor engines (300 to 400 a month) and about 20 Six 354s each month. In the case of all these engines, however, the position will be changed within the next few months. Production of the Four 99 is to start in a factory at Saint Denis on July I. and this factory—which belongs to the Perkins group—is at present being laid out for quantity production of the Four 99, the immediate capacity being in the region of 50,000 units a year, which could be expanded to a rate of 100,000 a year if necessary. Of the 50,000 projected annual production, at least 20,000 will be used in one model of agricultural tractor.

A similar position applies with regard to the Four 203Y agricultural engine, the importing of which will stop in July also when production is commenced by G.S.P. Concerning the Six 354, it has been decided that if duty artificially increases the price of this unit enough to affect sales, the engine may be assembled in France, using some components supplied from the Peterborough factory and some made specially in France: it is not anticipated that tooling-up for full production will ever take place in France.

Potential French Market French Perkins executives feel that there is an appreciable potential market in France for the Six 354. however, both as initial equipment and for conversion purposes. As an example of the latter it was pointed out to me that increasing numbers of ex-U.S.-Army vehicles are currently being sold in France, and that most of these will need new engines. Whilst the P6 is acknowledged to be on the small

side for such applications, the Six 354 would undoubtedly fill the bill.

Engines at present being built in France by G.S.P. are virtually 100 per cent; French units, only a few engines leaving' the Courbevoie plant with one or two items of British equipment. The French engines are identical in all respects to the equivalent engines made at Perkins' Peterborough factory, therefore in any engine either French or British spares could be employed.

As in the case of Peterborough production, items such as crankshafts, camshafts, cylinder linings, pistons, valves, oil pumps and so forth are made for G.S.P. by specialist French manufacturers. Castings also are done outside, but all machining of cylinder blocks, cylinder heads and water pumps is done by G.S.P., the same machining lines

In the Renault Galion 21-Ion chassis. the Perkins Four 192, which develops 52 b.h.p. at 2,400 r.p.m., is optional to the standard Renault petrol engine, a four-cylindered unit giving 56 b.h.p. at 3.300 r.p.in: A four-speed gearbox is used with

either engine.

being used for three-, fourand six-cylindered blocks and heads, production being carried out in batch runs lasting a week in the case of each engine. As G.S.P. are basically machine-tool makers, it goes without saying that all the machines used to produce Perkins engines are of G.S.P. manufacture, many of them having been specially produced.

Four 192 engines being produced at Courbevoie are at present being fitted with British C.A.V. DPA distributortype fuel-injection pumps and British A.G. fuel-lift pumps. The general policy, however, has been to use French-made injection equipment, specially produced so as to be identical with that employed on Peterborough-built units. Thus, where a C.A.V. in-line pump is employed on the British engines, identical Lavalette equipment is used on the French engines. With regard to the DPA pump, Roto-Diesel pumps are being adopted (Roto-Diesel, S.A., is part-owned by C.A.V., Ltd.). Each pump maker supplies the appropriate injectors for each engine; also fuel filters.

The position with regard to electrical equipment is different, however. As no concern in France makes equipment exactly the same as that used on Peterborough-built engines, the nearest French equivalents are employed, these being made by Ducellier or Paris-Rhone. Fittings on this French equipment are the same as on the British items. So far as exhausters are concerned, Clayton Dewandre units are made under licence by G.S.P.

Four 99 Production

At the Saint Denis factory a slightly different version of the Four 99 as we know it in England is being produced for tractors, the current production rate being 20 a day. The standard Four 99, however, goes into production in July for automotive purposes, and by August the daily rate will be 50, increasing to 70 in September and 100 in October. It is not anticipated that more than about 30 per cent, of the total production will consist of normal Four 99s, the rest being the special tractor modifications of this init.

At the moment, the engines being built at Saint Denis are being assembled from British components, but after July everything will be French except the crankshafts, main bearings and camshafts: this will only apply for the first two years of production, however. Roto-Diesel injection pumps are to be used.

When the plant gets into its stride next January the line will be producing 250 units a day, working in two shifts. In anticipation of this production rate a very fine enginetest shop is being built. When finished this will house 54 beds, equipped with British -Heenan and Froude water brakes.

All automotive engines built in France for Perkins pass through the Societe' Francaise des Moteurs Perkins establishment at Colombes. Here special equipment, such as bell housings, mounting brackets and some, gearboxes, are fitted before the units are sent out to customers. Not quite all the engines used by French manufacturers pass through the Colombes plant: a number of Renault tractors are being exported from France without engines, and P3/144 units are being sent direct from Peterborough to join the tractors at their final destination.

Some 270 people are employed by the French Perkins company at Colombes. In addition to preparing customers' engines, prototype installations are carried out, and a large proportion of the premises is devoted to the storage of spare parts, average monthly sales of spares being in the region of £40,000. Also at Colombes is an instruction school, taking six to eight pupils a week and supplemented by a mobile school which covers all France and part of North Africa.

In France the largest automotive users of Perkins engines are Citroen and, in addition to the 400 British-made Four 99 engines which they fit to their HY 11-ton model, they take 100 Four 192 units for their T 23 21-ton chassis.

As used in the Citroen HY, the Four 99 is rated to develop 42 b.h.p. at 3,600 r.p.m., and it replaces

a Citroen four-cylindered petrol engine, the output of which is 35 b.h.p. at 3,500.r.p.m. Performance is, if anything, improved, the top speed being raised by about 1 m.p.h., whilst the quoted fuel-consumption rate for the oil-engined model is

100 per cent, improvement on that of the basic .petrol vehicle. So popular is the Perkins-equipped

• HY van that already there are considerable outstanding orders for this model, and when production of the Four 99 starts in France it is expected that Citroen will take 1,000 engines per month. The Citroen T 23 vehicle is a fairly conventional 21,tonna available with either forward or normal control. In standard form it is fitted with a four-cylindered petrol engine which develops 50 b.h.p. at 3,800 r.p.m., giving a maximum speed of 49 m.p.h. A different rear axle is employed when the Perkins engine is fitted, so that despite the governed speed of 2,400 r.p.m. (at which 52 b.h.p. is developed) the maximum speed is 40 to 46 m.p.h., depending on the ratio. In the case of this Conversion the quoted consumption rates show an improvement of between 38 and 48 per cent.

Currently, the next largest users of Perkins units are Renault, who fit the Four 192 as alternative equipment in their Galion series of 21-tonners. Daily production of Gallons varies betWeen 50 and 60. whilst between 17 and 20 Perkins engines per day are employed. The Perkins unit is employed with the standard Renault four-speed gearbox. and the four-cylindered petrol engine it replaces develops 56 b.h.p. at 3,300 r.p.m.

Other Renault vehicles are available with Perkins engines, but these units are not fitted by Perkins themselves, but by conversion specialists such as G.R.A.D.A., S.A., who have workshops in the Charenton district of Paris. G.R.A.D.A., who are Renault agents, were the original distributors of Perkins engines in France before the French company was formed. In their first year of trading-1954 —they sold six engines, but 60 were sold in the second year and 120 in the third. In March of this year G.R.A.D.A. sold 44 engines, mostly Four 995.

This company specializes in converting new chassis to Perkins power, and over 30 conversions a month are concerned with the Renault 1and 1-1-ton models, into which can be fitted either Four 99 or Four 192 engines. Another specialist conversion is that applfed to Galion passenger chassis, into which are fitted P6s with G.M.C. overdrivetop five-speed gearboxes, giving a maximum road speed of 60 m.p.h.

About 100 such conversions have been done in the past six years, whilst altogether G.R.A.D.A. have sold 1.000 Perkins engines since 1954, including sales to such territories as Spain and North Africa. Since last October over 200 Four 99s alone have been sold.

Third largest users of Perkins engines for automotive uses at present are Automobiles M. Berliet of Lyon, who first made commercial vehicles in 1906 and now produce 300 chassis a week, 20 of which are fully integral passengir vehicles. Although Berliet make their own oil engines (under licence from M.A.N.. because they embody the " M " combustion system) their smallest unit is a 5-litre engine developing 110 b.h.p.

When, therefore. Berliet decided last year to introduce a competitively priced 4-ton vehicle, it was felt that their 5-litre engine was too big whilst, at the same time, it was not worth while building a completely new unit for the 4-tonner. As a result, the Berliet GAK 4 has a Perkins P6 as standard equipment, and current production of this model is at the rate of 30 a month, although when assembly line alterations have been carried out the rate is expected to increase to 100 a month.

The P6 has the distinction of being the only non-Berliet unit employed by this well-known concern, with the exception of one or two engines of over 600 b.h.p. that have been fitted to specialized heavy vehicles. By using the P6 Berliet hope to be able to attract a new market in Europe, although the GAK 4 is expensive by British standards, the chassis-cab price in France being equivalent to £1,540.

F. Perkins. Ltd.. Peterborough, are fortunate in having a live and well-organized undertaking in France to further their interests in that country. Although the number of direct exports from England to France is not high—and, indeed, is likely to fall as French production increases— royalties. are paid to the British company on every engine made in France, thus the project is a useful contribution to our export drive, in addition to helping to spread the name of Perkins over an eyen wider area.