Leyland Trucks

[Mash]

We've had a thread about Leyland and its current incarnations, but I can't (be arsed to) lay my hands on it!

 

This sticker was on a brand new DAF LF45 that we dispatched from our factory today:

 

 

How does that work then??

[morris_ital_lover]

According to TEH WHIKI, Leyland trucks is a subsidary of PACCAR and basically makes, designs and develops all of the small/medium trucks for PACCAR and then presumably they are badged DAF for PACCAR and sent on their merry way. Possibly like a teeny bit like Steyr who make a load of cars for different brands.

 

TBH it looks like Wiki will make a better fist of it than I so here's the link.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leyland_Trucks

[Mash]

Ah, that clears that up. I had no idea they were still building lorries at Leyland. Good to hear.

[Cavcraft]

That is good news indeed, I thought they'd gone under too. Haven't tried a (remotely) modern 45 but the old ones with the 6 pot turbo Cummins were absolutely ace.

[Vin]

I often pass the 'De Rooy' wagons loaded with LHD Daf 45 chassis cabs, heading east on the M62 for Hull or Immingham for export...I always assumed they built them at Leyland.

[sporty-shite]

I often pass the 'De Rooy' wagons loaded with LHD Daf 45 chassis cabs, heading east on the M62 for Hull or Immingham for export...I always assumed they built them at Leyland.

 

Those De Rooy wagons go back and forth with chassis and cabs. I used to see shedlaods of them when I drove for a living. In an ingenius cost-saving move, they also "piggy back" when empty, thus saving one wagons worth of fuel and ferry crossing, and enabling the unit to double man it's way back twice as quickly.

[willswitchengage]

Had a job interview here a while back, they make all DAF models in RHD form (except one of the arbitrary 8x? CF chassis I think) and LHD LF and CF65 for export. The LF is designed there too, with British axles (AAM) and engines (Cummins), although the cabs are supplied by Renault in France. The larger CFs and XFs have their engines, axles and cabs all imported from the Benelux so for them the plant functions merely as an assembly facility for the UK (and Irish?) market. The company is relatively autonomous from the DAF division, making the big trucks under license like Valmet did for Porsche, and marketing its own model, the LF, under the DAF brand. Confused? They're doing alright for themselves, seeking to expand their storage into an empty warehouse next door, and still employ 1000 smelly Lancastrians in what's actually quite a modern and busy plant.

[AnthonyG]

Remember reading that BL sank many millions into the plant to prepare for the early 80s 45 (Roadrunner?) before they ended up been merged/sold to Daf.

 

Leyland trucks division often made a profit most years of the 70s and 80s, like Land Rover it was one of the few decent parts whose profits were thrown away on the unsuccessful car projects, rather then reinvested in their own products.

 

Bedford was also a big cash earner and often more than offset any losses at Vauxhall - never quite understood why GM just washed their hands of it pretty quick in about 87 or 88 .

[Wilko220]

So why did they stop calling them "Leyland Daf" and start badging them as just "Daf"? Just a branding thing or somthing more to it - any ideas?

[scruff]

Good isn't it?? All those DAFs you see on the road are British!!

RULE BRITANNIA

 

[Pillock]

Wasn't it when LDV popped up, rehashed a few Sherpas and then disappeared again?

Perhaps dropping the Leyland was a move to distance themselves. DAF was a much stronger commercial brand across most of Europe than Leyland anyway, especially in more modern times.

 

(Edit: that was a reply to Wilko, damn you Mr Scruff! )

[scruff]

Sorry Pillock

 

Again using the power of Wiki

 

LEYLAND DAF

The company was formed in 1987 when the Leyland Trucks division, including the Freight Rover van making interests, of the British Rover Group merged with the Dutch DAF Trucks company. The new company, DAF NV, was jointly owned by DAF Beheer BV (60%) and Rover Group (40%). Later the company was floated on the Dutch stock exchange.[1] The new company traded as Leyland DAF in the UK, and as DAF elsewhere.

 

The company manufactured trucks at its plants in Leyland, UK and Eindhoven, the Netherlands, and vans at its Birmingham, UK plant.

 

Following the insolvency of DAF NV in 1993 four new companies emerged as management buyouts:

 

LDV Limited as a van manufacturer based in Birmingham.

Multipart Solutions Limited which was formed out of the firms parts company based in Chorley.

Leyland Trucks as a truck manufacturer based in Leyland.

DAF Trucks as a truck manufacturer based in Eindhoven.

 

The latter two would both become part of the American truck giant Paccar.

 

In 1994 Leyland Technical Centre, formerly part of the Leyland DAF global test operations and located close to the Leyland Trucks site also emerged as a management buyout. In 2005 the company was renamed mi-Technology Group Ltd.

[Wilko220]

Thanks! I guess the badge thing was just a case of standardising across Europe then.

[RedSparrow]

I recon it was because GM wanted to base all it's cars across the brands on a certain number of platforms. Bedford didn't fit with this plan so was binned, despite being fairly profitable.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

GM SKILLZ

[Cavcraft]

I remember a service manager at a Daf garage telling me that when the LF was new they came and demonstrated them at his place. He said one test involved trying to get people to break the headlights with a sledgehammer and that no-one could do it as they were some new fangled shatter proof affair.

[Micrashed]

They're doing alright for themselves, seeking to expand their storage into an empty warehouse next door, and still employ 1000 smelly Lancastrians in what's actually quite a modern and busy plant.

Hey, we wash once a week on a Friday night. We are very clean.

 

Empty warehouse next door mysteriously burned down early this year and is now being re-built.