Tata Motors Group (Tata) and Infineum have been recognised for leading the Indian lubricants market in developing a historic first heavy-duty engine lubricant designed to reduce vehicle emissions and improve air quality. At the recent SIAT 2024 conference, Tata was awarded ‘Best Indian Paper on Environmental Pollution’ for a joint paper with Infineum titled “Development of Low Viscosity Fuel Economy Engine Oil for Commercial Vehicles”.

Fully commercialised for both factory and service fill, the next-generation ultra-low viscosity (3.0 HTHS) lubricant marks a tremendous leap forward enabling Tata to achieve significant carbon footprint reductions across their commercial vehicle portfolio. Not only does the new technology deliver class-leading sustainability credentials, but it also demonstrated remarkable wear performance and durability over more than 100,000 hours of testing on engine dynos and over 3.6 million kilometres of distance clocked on vehicles.

India’s burgeoning vehicle population makes emissions reduction a top priority and tackling this challenge was the cornerstone of the joint development between Tata and Infineum. Jamie Musmacher, Infineum Commercial Engines Director, expressed his pride in the team’s accomplishment, stating, “Not only is this presentation merit a fantastic accomplishment and an honour, but it’s also a testament to the team’s effort over the last 5 years to develop the relationship with Tata, and ultimately deliver a solution worthy of this public recognition.”

Our journey with Tata Motors began in 2018 when they expressed interest in launching a fully synthetic premium quality fuel economy engine oil. Throughout the development process, Infineum’s team worked closely with Tata, ensuring their requirements and values were at the forefront of our efforts. We saw this as an opportunity to showcase our leading-edge technology to develop a top-tier heavy-duty engine oil meeting the specific needs of Tata while also contributing to environmental sustainability and comfortably meeting the requirements of Bharat VI stage II emissions limits.

S K Raghuram, Head of our India office, confirmed that this initiative has created an industry benchmark that other OEMs have begun to emulate: “What started as a product development effort aimed at top-tier HD performance with Tata created a new category for factory and service fill. We are proud to be part of this ground-breaking initiative that not only enhances the performance of commercial vehicles but also contributes to environmental sustainability. We look forward to continuing our successful partnership with Tata and driving further innovations in the industry.”