Pete adds medium-duty cabover
A new cabover medium-duty truck, Model 220, will join the family of trucks built by Peterbilt Motors Co. in mid-2007. The OEM will also offer two new mid-range engines, built by Cummins Engine Co. exclusively for Paccar, Peterbilt's parent company.
At a press conference held at company headquarters in Denton, TX, general manager Dan Sobic said Peterbilt is re-introducing a medium-duty cabover to give its dealers more “breadth of product” to meet the needs of their customer base.
Initially available as a Class 7 configuration, the Model 220 will be also be offered as Class 6 in late 2007 or 2008.
The Model 220 is based on the European medium-duty cabover built by Paccar subsidiary DAF in England. According to Sobic, the trucks will initially be built by DAF and shipped to the U.S. as complete units.
The new Paccar-badged engines, dubbed the PX-8 and PX-6, will be used on Peterbilt's medium-duty straight trucks and tractors. Sobic said that in terms of engines, Paccar plans to stay within the mid-range product line and not expand into the heavier OTR 11- and 13-liter segment.
On the heavy-duty side of its business, Peterbilt is officially retiring the Model 379 from its tractor lineup at the end of this year. It will be replaced with the Model 389 starting in January 2007. (The Model 389 was introduced at the Mid-America Trucking Show last spring; see FO — May '06, p.44.)
Peterbilt plans to retire the Model 379 in style. The final 1,000 units produced are going to get a special “Legacy Class Edition” designation, which includes emblems on the grille and both sides of the cab; a custom dash plate inscribed with the production number of the vehicle, from one to 1,000; a polished aluminum hood centerline; premium seats embroidered with the Legacy Class Edition emblem; and a platinum oval package which includes a punched oval-pattern grille and air cleaner intake screen, polished grille bars and stainless steel sunvisor.
Peterbilt noted that while the Model 379 Legacy Class Edition is limited to the extended-hood, 127-in.-BBC configuration, it is available as a day cab or with a full range of sleepers.
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