PACCAR, Inc. history, profile and history video
PACCAR, Inc. is an American manufacturer of light, medium, and heavy-duty trucks under the Kenworth, Peterbilt, and DAF nameplates. It is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, United States.
The company also designs and manufactures advanced diesel engines, provides financial services, information technology, and distributes truck parts related to its principal business.
PACCAR can trace its roots back to 1905 when William Pigott, Sr. founded Seattle Car Mfg. Co. to produce railway and logging equipment at its plant in West Seattle.
Seattle Car Mfg. Co. later merged with Twohy Brothers of Portland to become Pacific Car and Foundry Company.
In 1924, William Pigott sold control of the Company to American Car and Foundry Company.
In 1934, Paul Pigott, son of the founder, acquired a major interest in the Company from American Car and Foundry Company. Under his leadership, the Company introduced the Carco line of power winches for use on crawler tractors in the logging industry. This product line later became the basis for PACCAR’s Winch Division.
In 1945, the Company entered the heavy-duty truck market in 1945 with its first major acquisition, Kenworth Motor Truck Company of Seattle.
In 1958, Pacific Car and Foundry expanded its heavy-duty truck capability with the purchase of Peterbilt Motors Company. That same year, the acquisition of Dart Truck Company permitted its entry into the entirely new market of mining vehicles.
In 1960, PACCAR became an international truck manufacturer. Kenworth moved into Mexico with 49 percent participation in an affiliate company, Kenworth Mexicana S.A. de C.V., and in 1966 PACCAR entered the Australian truck market with the establishment of a Kenworth Truck assembly plant near Melbourne.
Also in 1960, Carco Acceptance Corporation, currently PACCAR Financial Corp., was launched to facilitate domestic sales of trucks.
Believing “Pacific Car and Foundry Company” no longer accurately reflected the Company’s products and activities, directors and shareholders voted to adopt PACCAR Inc as its new name in 1972.
In 1973, two major divisions of PACCAR were founded. PACCAR International Inc. was formed to consolidate the sales and service of company products abroad, and PACCAR Parts Division was established in Renton to supply aftermarket parts sales.
In 1980, PACCAR Leasing Corporation was formed to offer full-service leasing and rental programs through PACCAR’s dealer network.
In 1981, the Company became a European truck manufacturer with the acquisition of Foden Trucks in Sandbach, U.K.
In 1996, the Company acquired DAF Trucks N.V., a Netherlands-based truck company with production facilities in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, and Westerlo, Belgium.
In 1998, the Company acquired Leyland Trucks, a manufacturer of DAF trucks in Lancashire, England.
With more than 26 000 employees, PACCAR Inc. is considered one of the largest manufacturers of medium and heavy-duty trucks in the world. According to Forbes, it is considered one of the top 2000 largest public companies in the world.
*Information from Forbes.com, Wikipedia.org, and www.paccar.com.
**Video published on YouTube by “PACCAR ITD“.