Surprise profit at Leyland
Page 11

If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Leyland Trucks Manufacturing has surprised the industry, and its directors, by making pre-tax profits of £8.4m only 11 months after a management buy-out. The outlook for the Lancashire-based truck maker looked bleak following the collapse of the Leyland Daf group in January 1993, but the MBO led by current chief executive John Gilchrist has pushed Leyland Daf's truck sales to £148.6m in the perincI to April 1994. Gilchrist credits the strolkEi, performance to lean production techniques and to a recovering truck market, but admits that he is pleasantly surprised by the results. "It's better than our business plan," he says. "but we have been harvesting the results of a lean reorganisation we began four years ago." Since June 1993 the manufacturer has increased production by a fifth to 6,800 units on the back of export growth in Far Eastern and African markets.
Sales to Daf Trucks remain the single largest source of income but Leyland Trucks has also benefited from Ministry of Defence orders.
While Leyland Daf Trucks has face-lifted its 45, 50 and 60 Series within the past three years, Gilchrist says Leyland's next launch will plug a gap in its European range.