What is Kenworth?

Who makes Kenworth

Kenworth Truck Company is an American truck manufacturer headquartered in Kirkland, Washington, and a division of PACCAR Inc. Founded in 1923 by Harry Kent and Edgar Worthington (whose surnames combine to form Ken-Worth) from the Gerlinger Motor Truck Company, Kenworth has been a PACCAR subsidiary since 1945. Together with sister brand Peterbilt, Kenworth represents PACCAR's North American truck operations. Kenworth produces Class 8 long-haul tractors, vocational trucks and medium-duty trucks. The T680 highway tractor, T880 vocational Class 8, W990 owner-operator long-hood and T680E battery-electric Class 8 represent the modern lineup. The W900 owner-operator truck (in production since 1961) is one of the longest-running heavy-truck nameplates and competes head-to-head with Peterbilt's Model 389. Kenworth and Peterbilt combined hold approximately 28-30% of US Class 8 market share. Kenworth's parent PACCAR trades on the NASDAQ under PCAR. Recall data for every Kenworth VIN sold in the US is reported to NHTSA. ForCar.org decodes any Kenworth VIN to surface trim, factory options, open recalls and original delivery price.

Edgar K. Worthington and his uncle Captain Frederick Kent acquired Gerlinger Motor Truck Company in 1923, renaming it Kenworth Motor Truck Company. The Pacific Car and Foundry Company (later PACCAR) acquired Kenworth in 1945 and acquired Peterbilt in 1958, creating the PACCAR truck-brand structure that exists today. The 1953 Kenworth Conventional with Cummins engine became the standard configuration for North American long-haul; the 1961 W900 set the long-hood owner-operator template that remains in production.

Technology it is known for: PACCAR MX-13 / MX-11 engines, TX-12 / TX-18 PACCAR transmissions, Kenworth TruckTech+ telematics, Bendix Wingman Fusion, Lightweight aluminum cab.

This page covers Kenworth Truck Company (PACCAR division) — not Peterbilt Motors (the sister PACCAR brand) or Pacific Car and Foundry (the original PACCAR name, founded 1905).

Where Kenworth cars are actually built

A badge says where a company is registered, not where its cars were bolted together. The first three characters of any VIN — the world manufacturer identifier — say the second thing, and that is what we counted: 131 vehicles on record, 3 distinct manufacturer codes.

Read your own: the first character is the region, the first three together identify the plant's manufacturer. A Kenworth beginning 1XK was assembled in the United States.

All Kenworth models 25

Every Kenworth model we track, grouped by body type. Click any model for its VIN decoder, recalls, MPG, safety and ForCar Reliability Score — broken down by year.

Kenworth More models 25

Kenworth by the numbers

What the federal records say about the marque. Each line links to the full breakdown by model and year.

How to read a Kenworth VIN

Every Kenworth built since 1981 carries a unique 17-character VIN (Vehicle Identification Number). It encodes where and when the vehicle was made, its engine and body — here's what each part means:

The remaining digits — engine (8th), model-year letter (10th) and plant — follow the universal SAE standard. Run it through our free VIN lookup to turn those digits into a model year, an assembly plant and a country of origin.

Who owns Kenworth, and what you get

Kenworth belongs to PACCAR. Kenworth competes in the North American Class 8 long-haul, vocational and medium-duty segments alongside PACCAR sibling Peterbilt against Freightliner, Volvo, Mack, International and Western Star. Kenworth and Peterbilt are platform-sharing siblings with separate dealer networks; combined market share runs approximately 28-30% of new US Class 8 sales. Kenworth's 2022 T680E launched the brand's first Class 8 battery-electric tractor.

⚠ Worth knowing before you rely on it: across our complaint records the typical car reaches the halfway point of its faults at five years, while basic cover here runs 3 years / 36,000 miles. See when Kenworth models actually start to break →