Built to work, ready to lead: Inside the all-new Cummins X10

A picture can sometimes tell the story.  

Just ask Tara Johnson, Cummins North America On-Highway X10 Product Manager. 

From medium to heavy-duty applications, Cummins’ 10-liter workhorse has been engineered to take on a wide range of demanding work with greater efficiency and far less emissions than its predecessors.  

Johnson’s visual, or elevator pitch as she calls it, shows seven applications that are ideal matches for the engine: vocational, body builder, pickup and delivery, emergency vehicle, recreational vehicle, regional haul and transit.  

She points to the X10 as a continuation of Cummins’ strong legacy, delivering performance and efficiency to that wide range of demanding applications once served by the L9 and X12. According to Cummins, the new offering is engineered to be a smarter, more capable solution with today’s needs and tomorrow’s expectations in mind.  

Whether it is chosen for powering a fire truck, a city bus or a cement mixer, the Cummins X10 is built to show up ready to work in all kinds of real-world jobs. Cummins says the engine is built for tough duty cycles and comes equipped with features aimed at improving performance, reliability and flexibility for fleets. 

“We're going to come at it from a consultative perspective,” Johnson said. “We work to understand their business and their needs, then we guide them to the power that makes sense for them so they are not paying for power that they are not going to use or capitalize on.” 

The Cummins engineers who previously developed the L9 and X12 took on the X10 and paved the way for up to 450 horsepower and 1,650 lb.-ft. torque. The new engine is also roughly 100 pounds lighter than the X12 and offers up to 2% greater fuel economy.  

Longtime X12 customers, including those in refuse and mixer segments, have approached Cummins with plenty of interest. The biggest question has been whether the X10 will be able to measure up to the larger X12.  

Kyle Richardson, now the X15 Product Manager at Cummins, previously worked closely with the X10 team. He believes customers will be impressed with the engine’s power and durability. 

“The top X12 rating for refuse due to the speed governor is 380 horsepower and roughly 1,450 foot pounds [torque] so, yes, that’s well within our torque curve,” Richardson said. “It's the same for the mixers. They are using 430 [horsepower], 1,400, 1,450 [lb.-ft. torque] so they will get the exact same torque curve.”  

Other frequent questions from customers have centered on drive quality and durability.  

“Drivability wise, the first thing they’ve been concerned about is, 'Hey, is this going to drive like my X12?’ The answer is: absolutely,” Richardson said. “And then the question they come to next is, 'Well, what about durability?' The fun thing that we get to brag about is that a few of our lead engineers came straight from the X12 program, folding that valuable experience in with the full technical team’s expertise in developing the X10.”  

L9 users stepping up to the X10 will be getting up to a 4% bump in fuel economy, more power and longer oil drain intervals.  

“Today, the L9 is in nearly every application Cummins’ on-highway segment serves,” Johnson said. “The X10 builds on that success with even greater versatility and capability for those customers. With the exception of school buses, where our B-series platform remains the best fit, the X10 is designed to deliver exactly what customers need across a wide range of applications.” 

Cummins experts encourage customers to think about their options. In some cases, customers will be better suited to the new medium-duty B7.2 or the new heavy-duty X15. For others, the versatile X10 could provide the right mix of capability and efficiency for their needs. The company’s team is available to help customers choose the best powertrain for the job, all of which meet strict EPA 2027 emissions regulations. 

Limited production of the X10 is expected in late 2026 with full production to follow in 2027.