NAA Event Review: Leyland Trucks
Last month saw us visit Preston-based NAA member Leyland Trucks for our most recent networking event, where we were welcomed by Managing Director Phil Jones and Engineering Programme Manager Ben Holloway.
Ben gave an overview of the 86-acre Leyland facility, which was originally built in 1980 and is currently home to 1,000 full-time employees, including 120 design engineers; he also highlighted that 40% of the total vehicle production output is exported.
Both diesel and battery electric-powered DAF brand vehicles are produced at the facility, which also incorporates an in-house builder, which is unique among heavy truck manufacturers in Europe and recently celebrated building its 15,000th body.
The facility is also the only factory operated by parent company PACCAR, that builds every variant of the DAF truck range. The one million sq. ft. factory is current producing 60 trucks / day, which is circa 60% of its maximum installed single-shift capacity and these are exported to 40 countries globally.
In the UK, the DAF brand has enjoyed 30 consecutive years as market leader in the >7.5 tonnes G.V.W. heavy truck segment, with circa 30% market share.
Delegates were then given an overview of US-based parent company PACCAR, which employs 30,000 people globally, produced 185,000 trucks in 2024 and has enjoyed 86 consecutive years of profitability. This also included an overview of the people-led Paccar Production System (PPS), the overarching business process that the facility operates within.
Finally, delegates were given a comprehensive tour from start to finish of the working vehicle assembly line.
