The history of PACCAR and Kenworth Mexicana has been captured in various books, and their pages mark the journey of what is now the consolidation of these companies and of the trucking industry itself.
But recognition was missing for a key piece to understand the trucking industry and, of course, Kenworth Mexicana, now a division of PACCAR Inc.
This recognition reached the pages with the work: “From the field to the road, the legacy of Gustavo Vildósola Castro” , which translates into a journey of all his contributions not only to the motor transport industry, but to society and education, described Gustavo García González, author of this book that is published by CETYS University .
Reading this work will allow one to understand Kenworth’s presence in Mexico and the consolidation of the dealer network, but also the various carriers that grew and consolidated thanks to the vision of Don Gustavo Vildósola, the author acknowledged.
Born in California, United States, in 1929, at the age of 18 he renounced his nationality and assumed Mexican nationality, and according to Gustavo García, who knew him and worked with him for more than two decades, that was a source of pride.
“Don Gustavo was persevering, disciplined, and demanding when it came to quality, products, and processes. His brain worked at high speeds, with a long-term vision,” the author stated.
The business advancement of Don Gustavo, of Talleres El Águila, which would later become Kenworth Mexicana, must be understood in the same context as the growth of the country, and that in the 1950s and 1960s, with the presidents Adolfo Ruiz Cortines and Adolfo López Mateos, Mexico experienced the period known as “Stabilizing Development” .
“Those were times of economic growth averaging 6.2% annually, with an average annual inflation rate of 2.5% and a per capita GDP increase of 3.4%; in this context, import substitution occurred, and that is where Don Gustavo took advantage, first in the manufacture of agricultural implements, then trailers, and later arriving at Kenworth tractor-trailers,” said Gustavo García.
The book is a journey through his business work, but it also recognizes his vision in the motor transport sector, being the architect of the creation of the National Association of Producers of Buses, Trucks and Tractor Trucks (ANPACT) , to stop being represented in the Mexican Association of the Automotive Industry (AMIA) .
He also recalled the deregulation process of the trucking industry that took place in 1989 and that, with the formation of the National Chamber of Freight Transportation (Canacar) , support for the sector was required, and Don Gustavo Vildósola, together with his son Gustavo Vildósola Ramos, already the general director of Kenworth Mexicana, designed the “Kenworth Canacar” program to provide five thousand tractor-trailer trucks between 1990 and 1992, to support the Mexican carrier.
The book “From the Field to the Road, the Legacy of Gustavo Vildósola Castro” was presented last Monday, September 21st at CETYS University, which is not only the publishing house, but it was precisely Don Gustavo who promoted its creation and today Gustavo Vildósola Ramos is president of the Council of the Northwest Educational Institute AC (IENAC), a society that founded and sponsors CETYS University since 1961.
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