DAF Trucks Vlaanderen marks 60 years of Belgian production

The facility, which opened in 1966 after DAF identified the Kempen region as a source of available labour following local mine and workshop closures, now employs around 2,000 people and works with approximately 1,000 suppliers. It produces cabs and axles on a just-in-time basis for DAF’s assembly plant in Eindhoven and for Leyland Trucks in Great Britain. This year, the plant will manufacture its 1.5 millionth cab; its three millionth axle came off the line in 2021.

Recent investment has included a new cab paint shop capable of applying 3,000 colours using automated robots, which has reduced paint-related emissions by 50%. A fully rebuilt cab factory uses around 145 robots for automated body-in-white production. In 2024, industry federation Agoria named the site its Factory of the Future. The electric variants of the XD and XF — whose cabs and axles are also produced in Westerlo — won the International Truck of the Year award for 2026.

In a statement, Jos Habets, member of the DAF Board of Management responsible for Production, said: “Sixty years of production in Belgium is a tribute to the generations of employees who have built DAF in Westerlo into what it is today: an ultramodern, future-focused production site.”

Source: DAF