• Western Star emerged from the doldrums under the ownership
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and management of the Australian-born Terry Peabody. He took over the company, which is not much larger than ERF, in 1991 and quickly turned it into one of North America's more profitable low-volume producers. Western Star sells most of the 23 trucks it builds a day to small operators and owner-drivers and admits it cannot compete with the bigger American manufacturers. It had a 1.12% share in the US last year, selling 2,250 trucks. During 1995 it made pre-tax profits of £20m on a turnover of around £500m.
It is strong in the Australasian market with a dealership network extending to New Guinea. Peabody is considered something of a financial wizard and will bring a strong knowledge of worldwide truck markets to ERF with a competitive management style.