Western Star gets its own engineering division

PORTLAND, Ore. — Daimler Trucks North America says it has created a separate engineering unit dedicated to its flagship vocational brand, Western Star Trucks.

New director of engineering, Randy DeBortoli, will head the division, which will include about 50 dedicated engineers and engineering systems separate from Daimler’s other truck brands, the truckmaker stated in a press release.

"Many of our engineers in the new team have significant experience in Western Star product and in providing solutions for heavy duty applications like those that are experienced throughout the world," DeBortoli said in a prepared statement. "It is important that the Western Star product evolves with its customer base and that base is about heavy duty trucks with custom engineering solutions."

Added Canadian Western Star trucks sales manager, Jim Looysen:

"This is a clear indication of the faith that Daimler has in the growth and demand for Western Star Trucks going forward.

"The success of the Western Star product in Canada has significantly influenced Daimler Truck’s decision to invest in this additional engineering resource and a substantially large amount of this new resource will be dedicated to Western Star product and options for the toughest applications on and off highway.

The new engineering division will be headquartered in Portland Oregon near the dedicated Western Star assembly facility.