Less than a year after starting production, MAHLE has delivered its one-millionth steel piston to vehicle manufacturer Renault.
Renault’s 1.5 and 1.6-litre diesel engines are the first diesel units for passenger cars worldwide to come equipped with steel pistons.
MAHLE’s MONOTHERM® pistons reduce friction in the engine while improving thermodynamics, effectively boosting fuel efficiency by some three per cent.
Prior to their introduction in mass-produced vehicles, MAHLE steel pistons were already being successfully deployed on the racetrack, in events such as the Le Mans 24-hour race.
The steel pistons recently received Renault’s award for “Outstanding Innovation Performance in 2014”.
Fully automatic assembly lines installed for the new product at the Rottweil plant took up production in November 2014.
Production is also slated to commence at a further location in Izmir in Turkey before the end of the year.
Therefore, well over two million steel pistons can roll off the lines in the coming year.
