g Company, a predecessor of today’s Paccar Inc, to produce railway and logging equipment at its plant in West Seattle. However, it didn’t start making trucks until after its purchase of Kenworth Motor Company in 1945. Since then, it has dabbled in the steel business – the company’s structural steel division fabricated the steel for the construction of the Space Needle for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair – and, until last year, it operated an auto parts business.In 1958, Paccar greatly expanded its on-road, heavy-duty truck manufacturing capability with its purchase of Peterbilt Motors Company, and its off-road manufacturing capabilities with its acquisition of the mining vehicle maker Dart Truck Company. In 1960 Paccar became an international truck manufacturer. Paccar then known as “Pacific Car and Foundry Company” established a manufacturing plant in Mexico, and in 1966 built another one in Melbourne, Australia. The acquisition of the European truck manufacturers DAF Trucks N.V. in 1996 and Leyland and Foden Trucks in 1998 increased the company’s international heavy-duty truck market share to third place behind DaimlerChrysler’s Freightliner and Sterling divisions and Navistar. Swedish-based Volvo is the world’s fourth-largest heavy truck manufacturer.Paccar Inc now has subsidiaries and manufacturing plants in Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium, United Kingdom, Mexico, Australia, in addition to numerous plants and operations throughout United States.The Statement of Position (Balance Sheet)Overall Paccar exhibits a balance sheet (Table 1) that is well positioned. Cash on hand has grown an average of 38 percent over the four-year period beginning in 1996. Marketable securities have also increased nicely, from $305 million in 1996 to $531 million in 1999. This is directly due to robust sales revenues that have increased about 90 percent or from $4.8 billion in 1995 ...
