Title: Concept design of commercial diesel engines reflecting customer preference

Authors: Jeasu Jeon; So Young Sohn

Addresses: Department of Information and Industrial Engineering, Yonsei University, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 03722, South Korea ' Department of Information and Industrial Engineering, Yonsei University, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 03722, South Korea

Abstract: Owing to strengthened environmental regulations concerning climate change issues, commercial diesel industry is focusing on technology development for reducing emissions but is making fewer efforts to reflect customer needs. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the part-worths of attribute levels representing customer needs for commercial diesel engines so that this information can be utilised to suggest new designs. We apply an adaptive conjoint analysis (ACA) to identify the optimal design considering not only the technology affecting emission and performance, but also the customer perception of commercial diesel engine used in buses and trucks. The results highlight key components for manufacturer and end user customer groups, respectively. In addition, we employ a choice simulation to understand market attractiveness for three potential products reflecting the actual commercial diesel engines being sold in South Korea.

Keywords: ACA; adaptive conjoint analysis; commercial diesel engines; concept design; customer preference; customer needs; vehicle design; engine design; buses; trucks; optimal design; vehicle emissions; vehicle performance; bus engines; truck engines; South Korea.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.2016.080027

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 2016 Vol.72 No.2, pp.143 - 161

Accepted: 03 Aug 2016
Published online: 28 Oct 2016 *

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