Kenworth Could Join Peterbilt Introducing Class 6 and 7 COEs

Kenworth displayed its prototype K370, Class 7 cabover at the NTEA New Product Truck Conference in Dearborn, Mich.

As we announced yesterday, Peterbilt tentatively plans to reintroduce its medium-duty cabovers, the Model 210 Class 6 and Model 220 Class 7, in the first quarter of next year. Kenworth, it seems, will follow suit with the K270 Class 6 and K370 Class 7.

A prototype K370 was on display at the NTEA New Truck Product Conference, like the Peterbilt 210 the day before.

Beyond the hood ornament, the Peterbilt and Kenworth versions will be pretty much identical and from the same plant in Mexicali, Mexico, should they enter full-scale production, said Doug Powell, medium-duty marketing manager at Kenworth. However, the Kenworth 370 on display had something yesterday's Peterbilit Model 210 did not: an experimental aero body box.

The truck was similar, as least in appearance, to the Isuzu Eco-Max Aero Body introduced earlier this year, except of course KW's take is a much larger Class 7 as opposed to Isuzu's Class 3 Eco-Max. The body is highly experimental, the one on display being the only one in existence. According to Powell, Keworth is merely trying to test the waters at this point.

While a Peterbilt representative seemed fairly confident of a 210/220 early next year, Powell was a little more reticent about Kenworth. He said the truck was still very much in development, and that the final word on production had not yet been ordained. In fact, he said the whole project could potentially be scrapped.

Neither Peterbilt nor Kenworth have issued any official press releases on the cabover trucks.