Cummins is back with another masturbatory “success story”. This time it’s about 25,000 engines delivered to Otokar – Turkey’s bus-making sweetheart, apparently. Cue the press-release adjectives: “flagship model”, “reliability”, “trusted partnership”. You know the drill.
The truth? This isn’t innovation. It’s greenwashed PR about diesel engines shoved into buses that stall, smoke, and sometimes catch fire. It’s Cummins and Otokar clinking glasses over a mountain of emissions, while commuters in Bucharest pray their ride doesn’t burst into flames before payday.
Let’s unspin the bullshit.
25,000 Engines of What, Exactly?
Cummins brags about 25,000 B4.5 engines rolling out of Darlington to power Otokar’s Sultan/Navigo models. “Low emissions”, they say. “Reliability”, they say. Bollocks.
These are the same engines that helped turn Bucharest’s public transport into a rolling scrapyard. Since Otokar “won” a €100 million tender for 400 city buses, the fleet’s been a daily disaster. STB logged more than 8,000 faults between 2018 and 2021 – dead electrics, seized doors, steering failures, exhaust faults. At least two of the bastards have gone up in flames – one parked overnight, one mid-traffic.
Romania’s transport critics call them unreliable. Local media calls them a mess. Cummins calls it “customer success”.
The Tender That Stank
And let’s talk about how Otokar got that Bucharest deal. Mercedes-Benz cried foul, challenging the bid along with Karsan. The buses didn’t even meet all the technical specs, and competitors flagged irregular scoring. Romania’s procurement council still rubber-stamped the deal. Shocker.
€100 million of public cash later, Bucharest got a fleet that spends more time parked than driving. If this is Cummins’ definition of a “key milestone”, their next celebration should be held at the nearest scrapyard.
A Partnership Forged in Fire and Hot Air
Cummins’ Europe Bus Director gushed that he’s “delighted” Otokar’s flagship models are “transporting millions of passengers to work, school and leisure”. Mate, half your buses can’t even make it past the depot without throwing a dashboard error.
The “trust and cooperation” Otokar brags about isn’t about engineering – it’s about keeping contracts alive through thick diesel smoke and thicker politics. Otokar’s owned by Koç Holding, one of Turkey’s most powerful conglomerates – a group that’s danced through corruption raids and political favouritism. They built tanks for the government, lost contracts to Erdoğan’s cronies, and got hit with tax probes when they stepped out of line. That’s the kind of “resilience” Cummins loves – political immunity, not product quality.
Fireproof Spin, Flammable Reality
In Bucharest alone, thousands of malfunctions have been logged since delivery. That’s not wear and tear – that’s a design philosophy. Mechanics have patched wiring that could short and leak, while Otokar’s after-sales service barely keeps pace.
And now Cummins wants to brag about emissions reductions. The same Cummins that paid a record $1.675 billion fine for emissions cheating, talking about “low fuel consumption” and “sustainability”. Spare me. These aren’t clean engines; they’re just the ones that haven’t been caught yet.
Corruption, Cronies, and Cummins
Let’s not pretend Otokar’s record stops at bad buses. Their military arm has been mired in the Altay tank project – a decade-long slog of delays, favouritism and political meddling. Every contract smells of either nepotism or failure.
But to Cummins, that’s not a red flag – it’s a green light. The dirtier the ecosystem, the easier it is to hide.
What This Really Is
This isn’t a milestone. It’s a monument to mediocrity. 25,000 engines sold into a system that rewards corner-cutting, cronyism, and PR over performance. 25,000 diesel burners pretending to be “low-emission”. 25,000 reasons to stop believing Cummins’ corporate fairy tales.
Cummins doesn’t power progress – it powers failure and dresses it up as innovation. And Otokar? Just another customer happy to pay the cheque and play along.
Lee Thompson – Founder, The Cummins Accountability Project
Sources
- Cummins delivers more than 25,000 engines to power Otokar’s flagship bus model – Cummins Newsroom (8 Oct 2025)
- FOTO Un autobuz turcesc Otokar al STB, de 270.000 €, a ars în trafic – Newsweek Romania (Feb 2025)
- Toate autobuzele Otokar deținute de STB vor fi supuse unei verificări tehnice suplimentare după incendiu – Economica.net (Mar 2025)
- Bucharest to get 400 new buses from a Turkish company – Business Review (2018)
- Two companies challenge Bucharest’s bus acquisition – Romania Insider (2018)
- Erdogan versus Koç Holding: Turkey’s New Witch Hunt – Turkey Analyst (2013)
- Turkey probes tax affairs of Koc energy firms – Reuters (2013)
- Turkey’s multibillion-dollar Altay tank program faces delay – Defense News (2019)
- Erdoğan’s corrupt practices led to significant delay in Altay tank project – Turkish Minute (2022)
- United States and California Announce Diesel Engine Manufacturer Cummins Inc. Agrees to Pay a Record $1.675 Billion Civil Penalty – US DOJ (Dec 2023)