Paccar inaugurated its new commercial truck assembly plant in Ponta Grossa, Brazil, where it will produce DAF brand vehicles for the regional market. The project was announced a little over two years ago at a cost of $200 million, though statements at the opening event by local officials indicated PACCAR’s investment was $320 million.
The 300,000-sq.ft. plant will assemble DAF’s XF, CF, and LF vehicles, ensuring a range of medium to large commercial trucks for Brazilian and South American fleets. Production volumes have not been announced.
DAF is a brand mostly known in Europe, where it is a market leader for on-highway tractors, and has a 15.8% market share for trucks over 16-metric tons.
The first product for the Brazilian plant, is the XF-105, a long-haul cargo truck already in production. The CF and LF models will be added to the production program in the future, though the OEM did not indicate its schedule for adding the other models. The DAF CF is designed for multiple applications, ranging from regional transportation to heavy construction. The DAF LF is designed for distribution and urban delivery.
“Our DAF dealers have invested in the newest and most modern distribution network in the country to support our growing customers,” according to Paccar chairman and CEO Mark Piggott.
“The above-six-metric-tons truck market in Brazil is projected to be over 140,000 units in 2013, with further growth expected in future years,” according to Paccar exec. vice president and CFO Bob Christensen. “The largest and fastest growing segment of the Brazilian truck market is the premium segment where DAF has launched its flagship model XF-105 vehicle.”
