SIC 3519 Internal Combustion Engines, Not Elsewhere Classified

SIC 3519

This industry includes establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing diesel, semidiesel, or other internal combustion engines, not elsewhere classified, for stationary, marine, traction, and other uses. Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing aircraft engines are classified in SIC 3724: Aircraft Engines and Engine Parts, and those manufacturing automotive engines, except diesel, are classified in SIC 3714: Motor Vehicle Parts and Accessories.

NAICS CODE(S)

336399

All Other Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing

333618

Other Engine Equipment Manufacturing

In 2001, Mercury Marine Group of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, was by far the industry leader with $20 billion in sales and 6,000 employees. Detroit Diesel Group of Detroit was second with more than $10 billion in sales and 3,000 employees. As of 2003, Detroit's marine engines were to be marketed under another of its parent company's brands. Rounding out the top three was Cummins Inc. of Columbus, Indiana, with $5.8 billion in sales and 24,900 employees.

Diesel engines are used primarily in large trucks and buses, in high-powered farm tractors, and in heavy construction machinery. Other markets include marine vessels and lawn-and-garden equipment. The industry dates from 1893, when Rudolph Diesel, a young German engineer, filed a patent application entitled "Theory for the construction of a rational thermal engine to replace the steam engine and other internal combustion engines currently in use." Four years later, Diesel built the first diesel engine.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Justice Department rocked the industry in 1998 when they cracked down on diesel engine manufacturers' installation of "defeat devices," or software that changed engine performance and emissions under highway driving conditions. The industry defended itself by pointing out that the use of the defeat devices was filed on public record, and that the EPA never expressed opposition to this use until the sudden crackdown. Regardless, the EPA slapped the industry with what it called the largest civil penalty in the history of environmental law: an $83.4 million fine, on top of an estimated $850 million in costs for meeting tighter emissions standards on a quicker schedule than before the settlement. Additionally, six companies, including the "Big Three" industry leaders, would have to rebuild existing engines in order to meet cleaner...