Leyland Trucks has celebrated the production of its 400,000th commercial vehicle at its Leyland assembly facility. The vehicle, a DAF XF 460 FTP tractor unit, was handed over to customer, Carr’s Flour of Silloth in Cumbria, in a presentation as the vehicle rolled off the production line.
Steve Mattinson, Transport Manager at Carr’s Flour, was invited to Leyland Trucks as part of the production facility’s ‘Building Britain’ events – a series of customer visits hosted jointly by Leyland Trucks and DAF Trucks UK. The Leyland facility is one of Britain’s leading manufacturing sites and is the centre of design and production for the DAF LF range. The plant also produces UK-registered, right-hand-drive DAF CF and XF models as well as a significant number of vehicles for export to markets in Europe and around the globe.
“I’m very proud indeed to be a DAF operator,” said a delighted Steven Mattinson, “My company has a long history of acquiring British-built trucks, and it’s fantastic to see Leyland Trucks thriving today. This is our first Euro-6 vehicle,” he said, “and it's built to the very highest quality standards. Through DAF Transport Efficiency, I'm confident we have an ultra-reliable truck supported by the industry's best aftersales service.”
The 400,000th vehicle is a notable milestone for the company since production started in the current facility in 1980. “We’re very proud to have reached such a significant landmark,” said Leyland Trucks managing director, Bryan Sitko, “We have a long history of design and manufacturing in Leyland, we are a true community of expertise. Leyland is a testament of our credentials as a nation competing with the world’s best in the automotive sector,” he said, “we have positive proof that a skilled British work-force, and there are almost 1,000 individuals here, can design and produce the very highest quality commercial vehicles – market-leading commercial vehicles, in fact. Make no mistake,” he added, “the skills on display at Leyland Trucks are literally ‘Building Britain’; and are making a positive contribution to the UK economy.”
From October to December 2015, an estimated total of 550 customers and dealers will have toured Leyland Trucks’ modern production facility, taking in state-of-the-art design and manufacturing processes.
The Building Britain customer days coincide with DAF Trucks maintaining this year its unbroken 20 year run as UK market leader for commercial vehicle registrations above six tonnes.