2000 1999 1998 Earnings Before  Interest & Tax* 50 0 100 150 200 250 $ 300 Million *Excludes special charges We also benefited from the work of direct and indirect purchasing teams, which helped us reduce costs signifi- cantly by consolidating purchases and negotiating deeper discounts. Overall, shipments of engines for medium-duty trucks declined five percent from 1999 levels, as stronger European and Latin American sales offset the weakened North American markets. Ford recognized our product quality with its Q1 supplier designation for the engines we shipped to its plant in Mexico.  With more stringent environmental rules on the horizon, we invested in research for advanced solutions to emissions control. One such investment is a minority interest in a privately held manufacturer and developer of catalytic products for air pollution control and fuel cell systems.  Cummins maintained its #1 position in the transit bus market, and Blue Bird Corporation selected the ISB engine as standard power in its conventional school bus.  We also invested in a common infor- mation technology platform across all our distributors in North America. That platform gives us greater inventory control, customer satisfaction and productivity measurement, as well as a database of best practices in customer care. Sales for these industrial markets were up four percent over last year. The QSM11 marine engine continued to draw excellent reviews throughout 2000. Worldwide construction markets softened slightly through the year, as North American business declined but Asian markets improved. We are leveraging our OEM partner- ships, new product lines, technical strength, production scale, global network and exceptional people to attract new customers. With these assets, and a strategy to reshape our approach to the global truck engine market, we can effectively meet the challenges and capture the opportunities ahead. Looking ahead Heavy-duty Truck Construction, Agriculture, Marine  Medium-duty Truck & Bus 3250 3500 3750 4000 $4250  2000 1999 1998 Sales  Million  Joe Loughrey Executive Vice President President, Engine Business The North American market for heavy- duty engines declined dramatically from the record levels of 1999GLYPH<209>driven by an oversupply of new and used trucks and a general economic slow- down. The falling volumes forced significant reductions in our work force. Outside of the U.S. and Canadian markets, sales of truck engines grew steadily, most notably in Mexico, Europe and Latin America. Cummins is the market leader in the United Kingdom, Australia and Mexico. The corporate-wide Six Sigma process improvement program was central to efforts to address quality issues. In 2000, our participants completed projects with an annualized value of almost $16 million.  Improvements and Investments  11