Harrie Schippers, president and chief financial officer at PACCAR, said they were creating innovative products and technologies for the future, and plan to boost research and development spending by upwards of US$30 million next year.

The DAF CF Electric, LF Electric and CF hybrid trucks are entering field testing with customers and Schippers said the company looked forward to customer demands for electric and hybrid powertrains in applications such as refuse, urban delivery and product operations.

“Longer term, electric vehicles will be competitive in more applications. While we are preparing for the long-term by making investments in alternative powertrain technologies, we do expect diesel to remain the most efficient powertrain technology in heavy truck applications for the foreseeable future.”

PACCAR CEO Ron Armstrong said diesel would be the dominant power source for long haul trucking.

“The economics of diesel just makes sense and they‘re going to continue to make sense for a long time. There are obviously going to be opportunities that will develop in urban areas that may bring about hybrids or electric vehicles and so we‘re prepared for those,” said Armstrong.

“We have a full suite of vehicles in terms of all-electric, heavy, light-duty, and we do that both in North America and Europe. So, we’re well prepared for the places where it makes sense. We think there will be local geographies more than generally widespread displacement of diesel for the foreseeable future.”

Schippers said in 2019, PACCAR plans to spend US$300 million to US$330 million on R&D, compared with $300 million to $310 million this year.

“These investments will develop the next generation of Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF trucks and enhance PACCAR’s diesel and alternative powertrain technologies and add additional capacity and efficiency to the company’s manufacturing and parts distribution facilities,” said Schippers.