Roger Penske says his Australian operation has work to do to ensure it performs as well as it should in the Australian market.
Speaking to Truck and Bus News during his first ever visit to Mount Panorama on the weekend where he attended to watch his DJR Team Penske Falcons do battle in the annual Bathurst 1000, Penske admitted that the Penske truck operation ‘could do better’.
“Well as you know we are distributors for MAN and Western Star trucks and in the Power Systems business I would say we’d give ourselves a C or B minus on our performance at this point but inch by inch we are building but I feel real good about the business side and the racing side, “ said Penske.
“We have about 800 or 900 people working in our Australian operation in 18 or 19 locations, we are building a reputation on the service side but there is still work to but we are completely committed long term and we are investing in the infrastructure even when the market is a little bit tight on the truck side,” said Penske.
Penske went on to say that he sees his involvement in the motor sport side of things as a common thread, through his business that helps promote it and make it attractive for the best people to come and work for him.
“We are using it as a customer entertainment piece, we have people wanting to come and work with us as a result of our motor racing involvement and it allows cross pollination across various aspects of the business with people moving into different areas of operation because they have seen what we have been able to do in motor sport, so from that aspect the plan is on track,” he added.
Penske unveiled a new sponsorship for the DJR Team Penske with Shell committing to the two car team for the remainder of 2016 and into 2017. Until now the team race cars have carried a variety of sponsor liveries including truck brands MAN, Western Star and for engine maker Detroit Diesel , however with Shell money flowing into the team it will mean the team won’t have to raid the marketing budgets of the heavy transport brands.
The Shell sponsorship on both cars also gave the DJR team its best qualifying performance in 15 years, the last time the team had two cars in the top ten shootout at Bathurst was back in 2001 when both team Falcons wore Shell sponsorship.
DJR Team Penske’s Scott Pye and co-driver Tony D’Alberto finished fifth of teammate combination of Fabian Coulthard and Luke Youlden in sixth.
