There was little doubt that Kenworth’s latest limited edition Legend SAR ‘Retro tribute’ would be a sales success, and guess what, it has been!
Only thing is, it probably can’t really described as a limited edition, given that we are told that Paccar Australia collected orders for 768 of the prime movers, with all of those orders flooding in on the 8th July, the one day that order taking was allowed.
If that number is correct, and we have no reason to believe that it is not, it is going to take the company some considerable time to build a of those Legends to fulfill the order bank.
So popular was this third iteration of the Legend, that Paccar executives were taken by surprise.
T&B News understands that one fleet ordered 30 of the Legend SARs with many other fleets ordering multiple trucks, each stumping up a $10,000 deposit per truck to reserve their spot in the production run.
Even with the expansion of Paccar’s Bayswater plant currently underway, estimates are that it could take more than a year to clear the Legend SAR order bank. Given Kenworth’s continuing sales surge, that saw it move 325 trucks in June, it is clear the production line is going to running hot at Bayswater for many months to come.
This third Legend is based on the W900SAR, that ruled Australia’s highways from 1975 to 1985 and was the first Kenworth designed and engineered in Australia. This Legend has been struck as part of Kenworth Australia’s 50th anniversary celebration.
“In addition to recognising our long heritage in this country, the Legend SAR pays homage to all those that have stood, and stand today, behind the badge of a Kenworth truck. The ones that have helped make Australian-made Kenworths an integral part of the unique Australian landscape,” said Paccar Australia’s director of sales and marketing, Brad May when the truck was unveiled at the recent Brisbane Truck Show.
It is sure to prove a hell of a way to celebrate with Kenworth set to reap north of $300 million in sales revenue from the Legend SAR run alone.
