Iconic truck brand Kenworth has just attained a milestone that any other heavy duty truck brand in this country would kill to achieve with the Paccar owns name plate clocking up its 90,000 truck designed and manufactured in Australia.
When we have such a relatively small overall truck market in this country, to have notched up 90,000th locally built heavy duty trucks over the course of the past 60 years is a major achievement.
The celebratory 90,000th Kenworth rolled off the company’s Bayswater production line in Melbourne recently and was officially delivered to long time Kenworth fleet, McColls Transport during a presentation at the factory in Melbourne.
Kenworth started production at Bayswater in 1971 and since then it has expanded to meet growing the demand for the ever popular brand.
It took Kenworth three years to turn out its first locally built milestone, with the 1000th truck, a K125CR, rolling off the line in 1974.
Its taken a touch more than 55 years for Kenworth to produce the next 89,000 trucks at Bayswater and achieve this major milestone before delivering it to the Geelong-based McColls Transport.
The celebration adn handover was part of an all-employee event which the company hosted to celebrate Australian manufacturing, where both the 1000 and 90,000th trucks were on display.
The Kenworth employees were joined by the CEO of McColls, Simon Thornton, as well as its national fleet manager, John Hovey, with the pair accepting the keys to the new T909 from Paccar Australia managing director, Damian Smethurst.
Damian Smethurst said that this marks a significant achievement for Paccar in Australia, and reflects the longstanding dedication of its employees, dealers, suppliers and customers.
“The production of the 90,000th truck is a source of immense pride for Paccar and represents a strong commitment to the Australian transport industry,” said Smethurst.
“While this milestone underscores Paccar’s manufacturing legacy, the company remains focused on delivering quality and value with every Australian-built Kenworth,” he said.
“Each truck is purpose-built to suit its specific application and operating environment, with meticulous attention to detail that ensures the durability, performance, and reliability expected by our customers,” he added.
“This approach continues to differentiate the Kenworth brand in the Australian heavy-duty truck market,” Smethurst continued.
Kenworth said that its customers such as McColls Transport play an integral role in its success.
McColls took delivery of its 200th Kenworth, a K200 in April 2016, and with the addition of this latest T909, McColls has now taken delivery of close to 400 Kenworths, reflecting the long-standing partnership which they say is built on performance and trust.
Paccar also acknowledged the critical contribution of its Australian supply partners, many of whom it points out, have supported the Bayswater facility since the plant commenced production in 1971.
The company said that their suppliers ongoing commitment to quality and innovation is fundamental to Kenworth’s manufacturing operations.
Paccar say that together with its partners it continue to deliver industry leading products that support
customers across Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
