Bumper year so far for the distributor of Western Star, MAN and Dennis Eagle trucks in Australia.
The distributor of Western Star, MAN and Dennis Eagle trucks in Australia and New Zealand – Penske Automotive Group – has announced record quarterly revenue of US$4.4 billion (A$4.6b).
Revenue for the six months to the end of June this year increased more than 20 per cent to a whopping US$8.5 billion (A$8.8b).
Before you start wondering why every second truck on the road isn’t a Star, MAN or Dennis Eagle, the Australian distributorship is just a tiny part of the US-based corporation’s operations.
By far the biggest chunk of its revenue comes from retailing new and used cars mainly in the US, but also in the UK. Most of these are premium brands such as Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche.
Penske Automotive Group describes itself as “an international transportation services company, operating automotive dealerships, commercial vehicle distribution and car rental franchises principally in the United States, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand”.
Company figures released this week don’t have a breakdown for Australian sales. Australia comes under the ‘Other International’ category, which accounted for just 4 per cent of half-yearly revenues.
In turn ‘commercial vehicles’ accounted for less than 3 per cent of the company’s total revenue mix.
Penske Automotive is just one part of the wider Penske Corporation empire, owned by American car racing team owner Roger Penske.
Penske Corporation has revenues of about AS$20 billion and is a major player in the American trucking industry.
Corporate divisions include Penske Truck Rental and Penske Truck Leasing (big buyers of trucks); Penske Logistics; and HomeDirectUSA, which says it’s the highest-volume delivery company in North America.
Last year Penske Automotive Group made big news in Australian trucking circles by announcing it had bought the local truck and bus import and distribution rights from Transpacific Industries for around $200 million.
The new entity is now known as Penske Commercial Vehicles and uses a large dealer network in Australia and New Zealand.