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50 years with PACCAR building Kenworth Australia trucks in Bayswater
A proud moment for our local community marking 50 years of building Kenworth Australia trucks. Today I was able to share the occasion alongside the Treasurer, the Hon Josh Frydenberg MP, the Hon. David Hodgett MP, Member for Croydon, the Hon Scott Buchholz MP, Assistant Minister for Road Safety and Freight Transport, the Hon Kevin Hogan MP, Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister; and over 1000 of PACCAR’s employees who have just built their 70,000th truck. This demonstrates the strength of the truck manufacturing sector in Australia.
PACCAR built the Bayswater facility in March, 1971 to design, engineer and manufacture Kenworth trucks. Over the past 50 years, PACCAR has manufactured 70,000 trucks in this plant. The 50th anniversary celebration coincides with the delivery of the 70,000th Kenworth to Brown and Hurley, a multi-generational Australian-owned family dealership who also celebrate 75 years in business this year.
PACCAR directly employs over 1,200 people in Australia, with many thousands more Australians employed in its supply chain. Sixty percent of component parts required to manufacture a Kenworth truck are sourced locally from more than 160 suppliers, employing an estimated 10,000 people. The most comprehensive Australian-owned truck dealer network employing a further 1,200 people supports PACCAR and its products. PACCAR’s annual turnover in the 2020 calendar year was $940M. Considering manufacturing contributed $100b to Australia’s GDP in 2020, PACCAR alone makes up nearly 1% of that total.
Over the last 10 years, PACCAR has invested more than $100 million in R&D, facility and product improvements, and created more than additional 300 jobs during 2020 in our local communities as truck manufacturing activities and aftermarket support has expanded. A $40M factory expansion is nearing completion, which will double manufacturing capacity and position the organisation for the next 50 years of manufacturing on this site.
PACCAR provides broader economic benefit by producing trucks that are designed locally for the unique conditions and demands of the Australian transport industry, moving freight in the safest and most productive manner in the world. As 80 percent of all consumable goods are transported across this country by road, Australian manufactured Kenworth trucks represent 20 percent of all heavy-duty trucks providing the backbone of Australia’s road transport infrastructure. PACCAR has done so sustainably for 50 years without the tariff protection or subsidies of the passenger car industry. The challenges of COVID-19 has highlighted the amazing work of the men and women in this industry to everyday Australians. The Morrison Government continues to back businesses to create jobs and support the economy.