Who Makes Western Star Trucks And Where Are They Manufactured?
Among the trucks on North American roads today, Western Star isn’t typically the first name that comes to mind. It lacks the recognizability of other brands like Kenworth, Mack, or Freightliner, for instance, but they are still quite serviceable trucks nevertheless. Not to mention that they’re well renowned by owners and experts alike for their heavy-hauling and off-highway utility. But who makes them? The answer is a little less obvious than you might expect, especially considering where they’re made.
Western Star is actually a subsidiary of Daimler Truck A.G., the same company that produces Freightliner, Mitsubishi Fuso, and more. Daimler Truck is the company responsible for creating the world’s first self-propelled truck as we know it, the “Liefrungswagen” (Delivery Truck) of 1896. It featured a two-cylinder engine making a whopping 4 horsepower, but had an impressive 1.5 metric tons of payload (about 3300 pounds). Obviously, more modern stuff hauls a little more than that, and is arguably more comfortable than sitting on an unsprung piece of wood. But the DNA hasn’t really changed with the times; modern Western Star trucks excel at high loads in otherwise hostile environments.
As for where Western Star trucks are manufactured, it’s in North America, rather than Germany, where one might expect. There are two plants producing different models of Western Star, located in Portland, Oregon (where the company is headquartered), and Cleveland, North Carolina. The plants themselves are owned by Daimler Truck North America (DTNA), with the Cleveland facility sharing floor space with other manufacturers like Freightliner.
How Western Star came to be owned by DTNA
Western Star Trucks was originally a Canadian heavy-hauler truck manufacturer, producing specialized vehicles for the logging, mining, and oil industries, among others. Originally opening in 1967 under the designation of White Motor Company with production in Kelowna, British Columbia, it’s served alongside other longtime heavy-duty firms like Pacific, though somewhat less singular in focus thanks to its prevalent highway truck lineup. The company produced vehicles alongside AutoCar and shared the same cabs, with an early conventional and later cab-over design.
The company’s early history is muddled, to say the least, having been bought and sold numerous times over the course of its life. Western Star found itself under the control of various firms, beginning in 1981 when Volvo took the helm and shaped it into the Western Star brand we’re familiar with today. Company demand skyrocketed, especially in Australia, where Western Star trucks found service as road trains. In 1991, Western Star was bought out by Australian businessman Terry Peabody, further refining and focusing the brand on heavy-duty logistics. Western Star even found its way into military service under his direction with the LSVW light-duty vehicle.
Finally, in 2000, Western Star Trucks was acquired by its current owner, DTNA, as part of the German firm’s mission to acquire and grow several different brands throughout the 1990s. These included the Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation, American LaFrance, Ford’s heavy-duty truck division, Thomas Built Buses, and finally, Western Star itself. The company uses various powertrains as well, including one of the longest-lasting diesel engines of all time, the Caterpillar C15.
What trucks are produced today, and where they’re built
Though it started as a Canadian company and featured Australian holdings, Western Star trucks today are produced exclusively in the United States in one of two plants. The first, located in Portland, Oregon, produces the 4700, 4800, 4900, and 6900-series, each in various configurations such as axle layouts and wheelbase lengths. The largest among these, the 6900, is what you’d commonly see in extreme-duty applications such as quarry and mining work, and is powered by either the Detroit Diesel DD15 or DD16 (the most powerful diesel engine Detroit ever made), or the Cummins X15. The 4900, also built in Oregon, is the company’s most popular and diverse model, with a diverse (and confusing) set of letter suffixes denoting the various configurations it’s available in, such as the 4900 EX, XD, TS, and so on.
The Cleveland, North Carolina, plant, meanwhile, produces the Western Star 47X and 49X, both of which are heavy-duty trucks fit for various duties such as winter work and construction sites, among other applications. This facility shares floor space with Freightliner, producing an impressive 850,000 trucks total as of July 2025. Other Western Star trucks are still on the roads, such as the highway-capable 5700-series, though these are no longer in production. Western Star Trucks has a complicated history. It’s a Canadian-born company, headquartered in Oregon, with DTNA, a corporation with a German parent firm. However, every new truck put to work today, no matter where the job site is located, is unquestionably produced in the United States.
