Orbital’s new agreement

ORBITAL Engine Corporation has signed a memorandum of understanding with US company Delphi Automotive Systems to cooperate on the market development and supply of direct fuel injection systems for worldwide automotive applications.

The companies have identified short-term market opportunities and will focus their combined activities on the conventional Orbital Combustion Process (OCP) direct injection system.

The MOU also provides for joint marketing of the conventional OCP direct fuel injection system to meet the specific challenges of market sectors.

Orbital CEO Kim Schlunke said the prospect of Delphi applying its vast engine management system capabilities to the inherently low emissions capabilities of the OCP system was very exciting.

Delphi, a multinational provider of transportation and mobile electronics components and systems technology, supplies about 20 per cent of the 50 million-a-year car market.

Delphi’s three business sectors, dynamics and propulsion; safety, thermal and electrical architecture; and electronics and mobile communications, employ more than 214,000 people at 178 manufacturing sites around the world.

After Orbital announced a $10 million loss for the 1999-2000 financial year the market reacted positively with the share price hitting $2.19 – well above its 12-month low of 73¢ and the highest it had been in almost a decade.