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40 years of Performance, Safety and Value

When Australia II was crossing the finish line in the America’s Cup in 1983 for a historic win, the roller doors at Powerdown were opening for the first time. From these humble beginnings, 2023 sees Powerdown celebrate its 40-year Anniversary.

Founded in 1983 as part of a heavy vehicle wheel alignment business Newcastle Truck and Bus, Powerdown started as an importer of shock absorbers from North America and Europe. It quickly became apparent though these shock absorbers worked well on concrete highways and autobahns, they were not up to the rigours of Australian roads and hot climatic conditions. This requirement led Powerdown down the path to design and development shock absorbers specifically for our roads, our loads and our conditions.
As part of our 40-year anniversary, these are some of the highlights down memory lane:

In just 3 short years Powerdown outgrew its humble beginnings and in 1986, moved to a larger 1,000 square meters premises.

In 1990 Powerdown’s engineering team designed and developed Supershock. When it was launched, Supershock was the first shock absorber designed in Australia, specifically for Australian roads and conditions.

Following on from the successes earnt in the Australian heavy vehicle market in 1995, Powerdown established their distribution network in New Zealand partnering with John Bates Automotive that would later become part of the BNT group.

After 17 years of continued growth in Australian and Overseas markets in 2003, Powerdown custom built new office and warehouse facilities. This new position placed Powerdown’s head office and warehouse in a prime position at the end of the freeway leading from Sydney to Newcastle improving freight access and improved product delivery Australia wide. Once the facility was completed one of the largest shock absorber dynamometers in Australia at the time was installed for research and development purposes.

In 2004, Powerdown’s work was recognised when they were awarded the State and National Telstra and Australian Government Small Business of the Year.

Just 10 years after the new facility was constructed at Beresfield, in 2013 the warehouse space was doubled to accommodate the increasing demand for product. The extension also included a new manufacturing area that allows Powerdown to build some of their product range in house.

As an industry first in 2017, selected Powerdown shocks were fitted with an on-vehicle ride height indicator to ensure that the shocks do not top or bottom out.

In 2020 Filpro Automotive, a supplier of automotive aftermarket products, acquired Powerdown Australia. Under the acquisition agreement, Powerdown will continue to manufacture and/or distribute all current aftermarket products for trucks, heavy commercial trailers, buses and light commercial vehicles; and RAW 4×4 branded products for four-wheel drive vehicles.

Continuing in our proud heritage of innovation in 2021, Powerdown launched Enveero at the Brisbane truck show. An Australian first, Enveero is an ultra-high performance, environmentally friendly shock absorber fluid developed by Powerdown as an alternative to traditional mineral oils currently used in shock absorbers. The base fluid used as the key component of Enveero is made from renewable resources and is carbon negative. Not only is Envvero better performing it also lasts longer and is better for the environment and the people using it. In 2022, Enveero was one of the national finalists in the HVIA Awards in the Product Innovation category.

For the past 40 years Powerdown has been committed to supplying the highest quality, innovative and cost-effective suspension components for commercial vehicles. We like to thank our past and present customers for supporting us through the journey.