OKA 4wd
Encyclopedia
Tour bus
A tour bus service is a bus service that takes visitors sightseeing, with routes around tourist attractions. Double-decker buses and/or open top buses are commonly used, for their good views....
es and truck
Truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
s. OKA is based in Bibra Lake, where all OKAs are made. OKA's current holding company is Reymer Pty Ltd. Less than 500 OKAs have been built.
History
OKA started in 1986 when a group of Australian mine executives discussed that each of them needed an off-road truck with a three ton payload and nothing on the market at the time filled those requirements. Those executives formed a consortium and the OKA brand was born.Having agreed on the blueprints, the group undertook a comprehensive market study covering over 1,200 mining companies, government departments, farmers, the Australian military and potential private users to establish the parameters for the design.In 1987, work on the first prototype began and in 1988, it underwent its first test. Prototypes continued to be produced even during production up until 1992.
Soon after, the first production model, the 'XT', entered production. It was followed by the 'LT' which was also followed by the current model, the 'NT'. These vehicles have been supplied to government departments, tour bus operators, private industries, mining industries, the military and recreational companies and are currently being sold in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
and Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
(as well as Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
) and are being developed for the UAE, and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Models
OKA has made and sold 2 models (the 'XT' and 'LT') and is currently making and selling another (the 'NT'). The models are sold in various body shapes including Cab Chassis, Single Cab, Dual Cab, Multi Cab and Tourbuses.Technical collaboration with Hindustan Motors
OKA has licensed its technologies to IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n auto maker Hindustan Motors
Hindustan Motors
Hindustan Motors is an automobile manufacturer from India. It is part of the Birla Technical Services industrial group. The company was the largest car manufacturer in India before the rise of Maruti Udyog....
to make their RTV brand of multi-utility vehicles.
Links to Malaysian Vell Paari
On 24th August 2011, The Malay MailThe Malay Mail
The Malay Mail is a newspaper in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, first published in 1 December 1896 when KL was the capital of the then new Federated Malay States, making it the first daily to appear in the FMS....
carried an article regarding various investigations being carried out against OKA 4wd, for 'allegations of misappropriation of millions of ringgit, missing accounting files and "stolen" intellectual property manuals.' Manuals valued at RM80 million had gone missing. They had contained trade information for the manufacture of all-terrain trucks and tour buses. Funds of the company had also been mysteriously siphoned out of Australia to a private account in Europe. There was also allegations of unpaid wages. Vell Paari, who controls OKA 4WD through Reymer Pty Ltd, denied responsibility for the matters raised, saying that he spent most of his time in Kuala Lumpur. Vell Paari is the son of Malaysia's ex-Minister of Works Samy Vellu
Samy Vellu
Dato' Seri Samy Vellu Sangalimuthu is an Indian Malaysian politician. He is the longest serving President of the Malaysian Indian Congress , a component party of the Barisan Nasional coalition, holding the position since 1979, for 11 consecutive terms...
.