TRUCKMAKERS NEWS * USA - Mack celebrating 50 years at powertrain components plant

Mack Trucks' powertrain components plant in Hagerstown, 50 years in operation today

Hagerstown,MD,USA -Truck News (CAN) -May 4, 2011: -- Mack Trucks' powertrain components plant in Hagerstown is celebrating 50 years in operation today...  In 1959, after looking for a modern alternative to its existing engine, transmission and carrier facility in Plainfield, N.J., Mack decided to invest $45 million in a new 1 million-sq. ft. plant on 280 acres in Hagerstown. With construction complete, the first Mack engine rolled off the assembly line in 1961...  Today, the facility is approximately 1.5 million sq. ft. - the area of more than 30 football fields. More than $300 million has been invested in upgrades since 2001, including its engine development lab, according to officials...  (Image from Mack Trucks: Today, robotics, automation and assembly controls help ensure product quality, according to Mack officials)

* Paccar considers entry to China truck market

Bellevue,WASH,USA -The Puget Sound Business Journal, by Steve Wilhelm -April 20, 2011: -- Paccar is evaluating the possibility of building and selling over-the road trucks in China...  While Paccar Inc. has no immediate plans to sell DAF trucks in China, the company hopes to eventually find a joint venture partner among China’s 40 truck builders to build a truck for China...  Paccar will be watching closely the results of its newest venture, building a Brazil factory to assemble DAF trucks for the Latin American market. The company plans to break ground at the end of this year on the 300,000-square-foot Brazil plant, which is about the same size as Paccar’s Renton plant, and start production in 2013...  Paccar will build DAF trucks in Brazil, and is considering them for China, because the cab-over design fits European standards widely used around the world, and is about five feet shorter than the extended-hood Paccar and Kenworth trucks popular in North America...