Emissions dominate, so what else is new? Off-highway enters Tier 3; the truck world readies for 2007; it's all emissions, all the time

One of the more intriguing questions we heard this year was, "is the industry ever going to stop talking about emissions?"

Nope.

When we look at the last 12 months in the engine business from June 2005 to June 2006, no other subject, save maybe the incredible and surprisingly sustained boom in sales, has dominated industry chatter. And it certainly seems that emissions will be front and center at least until 2012 or 2015 or 2018. And if there's a Tier 5 in somebody's plans ... let's not even go there.

In January, the off-highway world entered Tier 3 with regulations covering diesels 175 hp and larger. Next year, the 100 to 175 hp off-highway segment joins the fray and the smaller output engines follow in 2008.

Meanwhile, the on-highway world is moving toward its much anticipated, much speculated January 2007 regulations. The '07 truck regs have spawned a long steady pre-buy, unlike the last-minute panic buying before the 2002 regs. This, and a robust economy, has driven truck and truck engine sales to historical highs.