In 1956, Tecumseh Products Company purchased the Lauson Manufacturing Company, which was founded in 1895 by John Lauson. By the time of the purchase in 1956, Lauson Manufacturing Company had grown into one of the largest manufacturers of small gasoline engines in the United States. Following the purchase, Tecumseh Products Company dismantled most of the Lauson Manufacturing Company and used the assets to create Tecumseh Power Company.
In 2007, the company's former gasoline engine and power train product lines, which is what the company had been most known for, were sold to Platinum Equity LLC, which does business as Tecumseh Power. Tecumseh engine products at one time were sold in over 120 countries. In December 2008, the company closed its engine manufacturing division. Tecumseh Power sold off its Peerless transmissions business to Husqvarna Outdoor Products.
On February 10, 2009, Platinum Equity LLC announced that Tecumseh Power Company had sold certain assets of its engine business to Certified Parts Corporation. This included the sale of existing and unfinished engine parts inventory, tools to make finished product and certain intellectual property assets. Certified Parts Corporation also assumed responsibility for warranty of previous engine sales and could eventually resume engine production.
On September 1, 2010, Certified Parts Corporation (CPC) of Janesville, WI announced it had entered into an agreement with LCT, (Liquid Combustion Technology) of Travelers Rest, SC to jointly manufacture air-cooled engines for the outdoor power equipment market. LCT's horizontal 4-stroke gasoline engine product offering was extended by this agreement and allowed CPC and LCT to provide single cylinder and V-twin vertical engines to outdoor power equipment manufacturers. According to Larry Zeman, VP of Winter Engine Products for LCT, "This establishes LCT as an engine manufacturer of choice as it continues to engineer a new generation of power."