Robin Easton, current Managing Director of DAF Trucks in the UK has received a promotion to Assistant General Manager Operations – a senior role in the PACCAR Financial organisation. This demonstrates the significance of the American parent company’s finance business. Robin is no stranger to the PACCAR organisation – he has already run PACCAR India and had senior roles in Treasury & Investor Relations. His new role will see Robin assume responsibility for PACCAR Financial’s Mexican and Australian finance companies, collections and used equipment. DAF, a wholly owned subsidiary of PACCAR, which manufactures the Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks in the USA, took control of the DAF company back in 1996, two years prior to their acquisition of the UK’s Leyland Trucks in 1998. Taking the helm at DAF UK is Laurence Drake, who, at the age of 44 as already carried out many roles in his years at DAF, including Sales, Credit, Operations and Business Planning, with his most recent role as UK Sales Director.
This left an empty space in the Sales Director’s seat, which is being filled by Russell Patmore – a DAF man through and through. Joining the business straight from university, he has worked both at PACCAR Financial and DAF – latterly as Business Planning Director. Not a job we would relish in the face of continually moving Brexit target dates over the last twelve months.
Robin Easton leaves at a time that DAF is showing considerable strength in the UK. IN the post Euro 6 world, the company has managed to increase market share using cabs that were originally designed some years ago. This speaks volumes for the dealer network and the resilience of these tried and tested trucks and their driveline technology.
