Farewell to the name of Leyland
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III After more than a century, the Leyland name will no longer be seen on the front of new trucks. On 1 January 2000 a new name, Oaf Trucks, will enter
the market-place and the word "Leyland" will disappear from badges.
Announcing the widely predicted move, retiring Leyland Oaf chairman David Gill stressed the need to focus on a single European market with a single brand identity.
"We want to end the blurring of the message which has built up here in Britain." he said. As well as changing the company and vehicle naming, the entire corporate identity including dealer signage and service vehicles will be changed over the coming months.
But the end of Leylandbadged vehicles doesn't mean the end of Leyland. Leyland Trucks, now owned by Paccar, will continue to assemble Da145 and 55 models, soon to be joined by all 65 models, Preparations are also well advanced for the transfer of all Foden production from Sandbach. This will be phased in from February to July 2000.
Some Oaf 75 and 85 variants will eventually be built at Leyland, but no date has been decided for this. Other projects include supplying medium truck cabs and chassis to Kenworth and Peterbilt in Canada.
The final refuge of the Leyland name, the export-only Comet, will disappear as production is wound down over the next few months, and it won't be replaced.
• Parent company Paccar has Just announced extra cash returns for its shareholders. The regular quarterly dividend has been increased by 50%, while an extra cash dividend worth nearly £80m has also been declared.