Hopes up down under
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Leyland withdrew quietly from the Australian market last year, having latterly assembled more BMC Bathgate-derived models than "pure" Leylands, and ceased advertising in the Australian trade press in 1982.
It is sticking in the New Zealand market in the face of American and Japanese competition, and, indeed, from Foden Trucks' British plant, and will need to treble its market penetration to meet the 1986 target. It says it is well on course to achieve that.
Its New Zealand distributor, Dorntrac Equipment, introduced the Roadtrain tractive unit and Constructor Six in September 1983, and is also selling Scammell S24 bonneted and S26 Roadtrain-cabbed heavy trucks in 6x4 tractive unit and 8x4 rigid forms.
Daf, meanwhile, is breaking into the Australian market, and a subsidiary of the Dutch company has been set up in Brisbane to appoint a network of 20 dealers.
Another Brisbane company, Western Star, is to assemble the FTT3300 DKX, the FTT2800 DKSE, and FT12300 DNT 6x4 tractive units and the FAT2300 DHT 6x4 rigid chassis, using some Australian-made components. Daf aims to sell them in an annual market for between 4,000 and 5,000 vehicles over 15 tonnes.
This is Daf's first move beyond the African and Middle East markets, where its nonEuropean activities have so far been concentrated.